Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Double Patenting
A rejection based on double patenting of the “same invention” type finds its support in the language of 35 U.S.C. 101 which states that “whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process... may obtain a patent therefor...” (Emphasis added). Thus, the term “same invention,” in this context, means an invention drawn to identical subject matter. See Miller v. Eagle Mfg. Co., 151 U.S. 186 (1894); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Ockert, 245 F.2d 467, 114 USPQ 330 (CCPA 1957).
A statutory type (35 U.S.C. 101) double patenting rejection can be overcome by canceling or amending the claims that are directed to the same invention so they are no longer coextensive in scope. The filing of a terminal disclaimer cannot overcome a double patenting rejection based upon 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 7-10, 12-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as claiming the same invention as that of claims 1, 4, 6, 7-8 of prior U.S. Patent No. US 11,684,335 B2. This is a statutory double patenting rejection.
US 11,684,335 B2 (17/092,929)
18/315,647
1. An acoustic transmission system comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a lossy tissue of a specimen; and
a non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the tissue of the specimens;
wherein active gain elements in the NHCMM compensate the acoustic wave attenuation through the lossy tissue.
1. A non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM).
The NHCMM of claim 1, wherein the NHCMM inherently embodies the non-conservation of energy. [MPEP 2112, sec. I. something which is old does not become patentable upon the discovery of a new property “[T]he discovery of a previously unappreciated property of a prior art composition, or of a scientific explanation for the prior art’s functioning, does not render the old composition patentably new to the discoverer.” Atlas Powder Co. v. IRECO Inc., 190 F.3d 1342, 1347, 51 USPQ2d 1943, 1947 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Thus the claiming of a new use, new function or unknown property which is inherently present in the prior art does not necessarily make the claim patentable.]
5. A system comprising the NHCMM of claim 1; wherein the NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to an acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for an energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through a specimen.
8. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through the specimen;
wherein the NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for the energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the specimen.
3. The NHCMM of claim 1, wherein the NHCMM is an isotropic metamaterial.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the NHCMM is configured as a layer;
wherein the layer of NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to an acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for an energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the specimen; and
wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximate the specimen.
2. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1, wherein the NHCMM has a first bulk modulus and a first density having an opposite sign to a second bulk modulus and a second density of the tissue, respectively.
3. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1, wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.
4. The acoustic transmission system of claim 2 further comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density;
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the tissue;
alter the NHCMM to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to compensate for the impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and
transmit a second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue.
7. The system of claim 5 further comprising:
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to:
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the specimen, based at least in part on a first bulk modulus and a first density of the NHCMM, and a second bulk modulus and a second density of the specimen; and
alter the NHCMM to compensate for the calculated impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss.
5. The acoustic transmission system of claim 4 further comprising a transducer;
wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
measure a pressure field of the tissue with the transducer;
calculate a contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determine if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured
pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.
6. An acoustic transmission system comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a lossy tissue of a specimen; and
a non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the tissue of the specimen;
wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by resonating structures, while imaginary parts are contributed by the active gain elements.
2. The NHCMM of claim 1 comprising:
resonating structures; and
active gain elements;
wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by the resonating structures; and wherein imaginary parts of the NHCMM are contributed by the active gain elements.
9. A non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) comprising:
resonating structures; and
active gain elements;
wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by the resonating structures; and
wherein imaginary parts of the NHCMM are contributed by the active gain elements.
10. A system comprising:
an acoustic wave generator configured to generate an acoustic wave and propagate the acoustic wave through a specimen; and
the NHCMM of claim 9; wherein the NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to the acoustic wave to account for energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the specimen.
13. The system of claim 10, wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by resonating systems, while imaginary parts of the NHCMM are contributed by active gain elements.
14. The system of claim 10, wherein active gain elements in the NHCMM compensate acoustic wave attenuation through lossy material of the specimen;
wherein negative real parts of the NHCMM are realized by resonating systems; and
wherein imaginary parts of the NHCMM are realized by the active gain elements.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the NHCMM has a first bulk modulus and a first density having an opposite sign to a second bulk modulus and a second density of the specimen, respectively.
7. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the tissue.
15. The system of claim 10, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the specimen.
8. A method of acoustic wave transmission using the system of claim 2 comprising:
transmitting a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the tissue to determine the first bulk modulus and the first density of the tissue;
calculating an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the tissue;
forming a second acoustic wave by altering the non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) to:
have the second bulk modulus and the second density; and
add the first amount of energy to the first acoustic wave to compensate for the impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and
transmitting the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the tissue, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the tissue.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein active gain elements in the NHCMM compensate acoustic wave attenuation through lossy material of the specimen.
16. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to:
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the specimen, based at least in part on the first bulk modulus and the first density of the NHCMM, and the second bulk modulus and the second density of the specimen; and
alter the NHCMM to compensate for the calculated impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss.
17. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the specimen to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density of the specimen;
calculate an energy loss in the first acoustic wave as a result of the first acoustic wave propagating through the specimen;
alter the NHCMM to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to the acoustic wave generator to compensate the energy loss in the first acoustic wave to form a second acoustic wave; and
transmit the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the specimen;
wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to the specimen.
18. The system of claim 11 further comprising:
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through a tissue of the specimen to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density;
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the tissue;
alter the NHCMM to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to compensate for the impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and
transmit a second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue.
19. A system comprising:
the NHCMM of claim 9;
a processing system comprising one or more processors; and
a memory storing instructions;
wherein the NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to an acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for an energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through a lossy material;
wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to:
calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the lossy material, based at least in part on a first bulk modulus and a first density of the NHCMM, and a second bulk modulus and a second density of the lossy material; and
alter the NHCMM to compensate for the calculated impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and
wherein the first bulk modulus and the first density have an opposite sign to the second bulk modulus and the second density.
9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
measuring a pressure field produced by the second acoustic wave propagating through the tissue by a transducer;
calculating a contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determining if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the tissue is a cranium.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.
12. The acoustic transmission system of claim 1 further comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the tissue of the specimen to determine a first bulk modulus and a first density of the tissue;
calculate an energy loss in the first acoustic wave as a result of the first acoustic wave propagating through the tissue;
alter the non-Hermitian complementary metamaterial (NHCMM) to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to the acoustic wave generator to compensate the energy loss in the first acoustic wave to form a second acoustic wave; and
transmit the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the tissue, wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximal to and the tissue.
13. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12 further comprising a transducer;
wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
measure a pressure field produced by the second acoustic wave propagating through the tissue by the transducer;
calculate the contrast to noise ratio of the pressure field; and
determine if an anomaly is present in the pressure field by comparing the measured pressure field to a higher amplitude backscattered pressure field.
14. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12, wherein the tissue is a cranium.
15. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12, wherein the acoustic wave generator is an ultrasound generator.
16. The acoustic transmission system of claim 12, wherein the NHCMM comprises a resonating structure.
17. The acoustic transmission system of claim 6, wherein the NHCMM is in electrical communication with an electronic circuit.
18. The acoustic transmission system of claim 17, wherein the electronic circuit comprises piezoelectric materials connected to an amplification and a phase control circuit.
Claim 3 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. US 11,684,335 B2 in view of Walia (2015, Applied Physics Reviews).
Regarding claim 3, ‘335 does not explicitly teach and yet Walia teaches the NHCMM of Claim 1, wherein the NHCMM is an isotropic metamaterial [[pg. 2, col. 2] such multilayered metamaterials often suffer from anisotropic responses. Advanced applications such as cloaks require true isotropic metamaterials that can provide a spatial control on the permittivity and permeability over a defined volume. Metamaterials with isotropic negative and cannot be achieved via planar fabrication processes. Further advances in fabrication techniques for non-planar metamaterials are therefore required to achieve sub-wavelength dimension metamaterials with isotropic responses. Advanced fabrication techniques such as imprint lithography. microstereolithography, vertical pillar superlattice, multi-photon polymerization, multilayer electroplating (Figure 6), and interference lithography have been explored to demonstrate 3D metamaterial structures; [pg. 12, col. 1] Other complex fabrication techniques such as membrane projection lithography and direct laser writing techniques have the potential to enable creation of complex metamaterial structures with isotropic responses].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the metamaterials as taught by ‘335, with the isotropic metamaterials as taught by Walia so that an isotropic response is fabricated.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6, 11, and 16-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior art Tyler (WO 2018/227088 A1) cited in the IDS describes the use of metamaterials as focusing lenses for imaging using ultrasound transducer elements [[0095]] for estimation of shear modulus, elastic modulus, or complex modulus of the brain [[0097]].
Regarding claim 6, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach the system of claim 5, wherein the NHCMM is configured as a layer; wherein the layer of NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to an acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for an energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through the specimen; and wherein the NHCMM is positioned proximate the specimen.
Regarding claim 11, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach the system of Claim 10, wherein the NHCMM has a first bulk modulus and a first density having an opposite sign to a second bulk modulus and a second density of the specimen, respectively.
Regarding claim 16, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach the system of Claim 11 further comprising: a processing system comprising one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to: calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the specimen, based at least in part on the first bulk modulus and the first density of the NHCMM, and the second bulk modulus and the second density of the specimen; and alter the NHCMM to compensate for the calculated impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss.
Regarding claim 17, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach the system of Claim 11 further comprising: a processing system comprising one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to: transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator to propagate the first acoustic wave through the specimen to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density of the specimen; calculate an energy loss in the first acoustic wave as a result of the first acoustic wave propagating through the specimen; alter the NHCMM to coherently amplify the first amount of energy to the acoustic wave generator to compensate the energy loss in the first acoustic wave to form a second acoustic wave; and transmit the second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator into the specimen.
Regarding claim 18, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach the system of Claim 11 further comprising: a processing system comprising one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to: transmit a first acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through a tissue of the specimen to determine the second bulk modulus and the second density; and transmit a second acoustic wave from the acoustic wave generator through the tissue.
Regarding claim 19, the closest prior art of record does not appear to teach a system comprising: the NHCMM of Claim 9; a processing system comprising one or more processors; and a memory storing instructions; wherein the NHCMM is configured to add a first amount of energy amplification coherently to an acoustic wave passing therethrough to account for an energy loss in the acoustic wave as a result of the wave propagating through a lossy material ; wherein the instructions, when executed by the processing system, cause the system to: calculate an impedance mismatch and an intrinsic loss of the lossy material, based at least in part on a first bulk modulus and a first density of the NHCMM, and a second bulk modulus and a second density of the lossy material; and alter the NHCMM to compensate for the calculated impedance mismatch and the intrinsic loss; and wherein the first bulk modulus and the first density have an opposite sign to the second bulk modulus and the second density.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645