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 .
Priority
Benefit of earlier filing date of 04/21/2014, 04/25/2014, 06/24/2014, 08/01/2014, 08/27/2014 of provisional application No. 61982021, 61984354, 62016334, 62031925, 62042451 is acknowledged as required by 35 U.S.C. 119.
Applicant has not complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date as follows: Claims 21, 36 and 38 shown in Fig. 63 does not have support in these provisional applications.
Applicant receives benefit of earlier filing date of 04/21/2015 related to application 14/692,499 which has support for the claimed invention shown in Fig. 63.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 21-23, 26, 29-30 and 32-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being anticipated by Merril (US 20030040737 A1).
Regarding claim 21, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 below) a slip detection system, comprising: an encoding assembly (assembly shown in Fig. 3), comprising: a tracking wheel (motion sensing and control wheel 18), having: a first outer edge (cylindrical outer edge) configured to engage an elongate member (elongate portion of working channel tool 4) such that the tracking wheel is configured to rotate about a first axis (axis along shaft 15) during translation of the elongate member (par. 21: “ the elongate portion of working channel tool 4 passes between motion sensing and control wheel 18 and idler wheel 13, it causes rotation of each wheel”), and at least one tracking feature (marks imprinted on transparent optical encoder disk 14), and a tracking sensor (plurality of light sensors in encoder reader 16) configured to detect the at least one tracking feature and to provide data indicative of an angular position of the at least one tracking feature relative to the first axis (par. 21: “determine the amount and direction of rotational motion of encoder disk 14”); and a tracking assembly configured to receive the data and to monitor the translation of the elongate member based on the data (par. 21: “Control unit 24 receives motion signals from encoder reader 16 corresponding to translational motion of working channel tool 4”; par. 22: “Actuator 12 is operative to provide forces on the working channel tool 4 in its translational degree of freedom, as transmitted by control wheel 18 to the tool 4. The actuator 12 is controlled by control signals from the control unit 24. In some embodiments, the control unit 24 can determine the amount of force to be output from actuator 12 by examining the current signals from the encoder reader 16 indicating the current position or motion of the tool 4, and then control the actuator 12 to output that force”; also see par. 23-25).
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Regarding claim 22, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the encoding assembly further comprises an idler wheel (idler wheel 13) having a second outer edge (cylindrical outer edge), wherein the second outer edge is configured to engage the elongate member such that the idler wheel is configured to rotate about a second axis during translation of the elongate member (par. 21: “As the elongate portion of working channel tool 4 passes between motion sensing and control wheel 18 and idler wheel 13, it causes rotation of each wheel”.
Regarding claim 23, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the encoding assembly further comprises a communications module (par. 23: “Control unit 24 can include a microprocessor, ASIC, or other type of processor or controller”) in communication with each of the tracking sensor (via wire A) and the tracking assembly (located inside the tracking assembly), wherein the communications module is configured to receive the data from the tracking sensor and to transmit the data to the tracking assembly (claim 1: “controller in communication with the sensor and the actuator, the controller adapted to control the application of the force, wherein the force is applied to the elongated member as a haptic indication to the user when the elongated member has been moved a predetermined distance or to a predetermined position by the user in the degree of freedom”).
Regarding claim 26, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking assembly is configured to determine that slippage of the elongate member has occurred based on a deviation of the monitored translation from a predetermined threshold, wherein the tracking assembly is configured to provide an output (by increasing or decreasing output force of the actuators in response to sensors sensing the position and/or amount of motion of working channel tool 4) in response to a determination that slippage of the elongate member has occurred (see entire par. 22-23).
Regarding claim 29, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the at least one tracking feature comprises at least one of a colored region, a magnetic element, a hole, or a formation in the tracking wheel (par. 21: “marks imprinted on the surface”).
Regarding claim 30, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking wheel is transparent, wherein the at least one tracking feature comprises an indicium on a surface of the tracking wheel.
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Regarding claim 32, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking sensor comprises at least one of an optical sensor (par. 21: “transparent optical encoder disk 14”; “A plurality of light sensors in encoder reader 16 measure the varying light and dark patterns and determine the amount and direction of rotational motion of encoder disk 14”; note that light sensors are a primary type of optical sensors), a magnetic sensor, or an acoustic sensor.
Regarding claim 33, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking wheel is mounted to a stationary axle (axle 12 fixed to fixed bracket 20), wherein the tracking wheel is rotatable relative to the axle.
Regarding claim 34, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking wheel is mounted to a rotatable axle (motor shaft 15), wherein the rotatable axle is driven by a motor (par. 20: “Wheel 18 is affixed to shaft 15 of motor 12”; par. 21: “ force applied to wheel 18 via shaft 15”).
Regarding claim 35, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) a drive assembly configured to drive translation of the elongate member (drive assembly is interpreted to be the assembly connected to left side of bracket 20 shown above), wherein the drive assembly comprises at least one roller (idler wheel 13).
Regarding claim 36, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) an encoding assembly (assembly shown in Fig. 3), comprising: a tracking wheel (motion sensing and control wheel 18), having: a first outer edge (cylindrical outer edge) configured to engage an elongate member (elongate portion of working channel tool 4) such that the tracking wheel is configured to rotate about a first axis (axis along shaft 15) during translation of the elongate member (par. 21: “ the elongate portion of working channel tool 4 passes between motion sensing and control wheel 18 and idler wheel 13, it causes rotation of each wheel”), and at least one tracking feature (marks imprinted on transparent optical encoder disk 14), and a tracking sensor (plurality of light sensors in encoder reader 16) configured to detect the at least one tracking feature and to provide data indicative of an angular position of the at least one tracking feature relative to the first axis (par. 21: “determine the amount and direction of rotational motion of encoder disk 14”); an idler wheel (idler wheel 13) spaced apart (d) from the tracking wheel to receive the elongate member therebetween, the idler wheel having a second outer edge (cylindrical outer edge), wherein the second outer edge is configured to engage the elongate member such that the idler wheel is configured to rotate about a second axis during translation of the elongate member (par. 21: “As the elongate portion of working channel tool 4 passes between motion sensing and control wheel 18 and idler wheel 13, it causes rotation of each wheel”; a communications module (par. 23: “Control unit 24 can include a microprocessor, ASIC, or other type of processor or controller”) in communication with each of the tracking sensor (via wire A) and the tracking assembly (located inside the tracking assembly), wherein the communications module is configured to receive the data from the tracking sensor and to transmit the data to the tracking assembly (claim 1: “controller in communication with the sensor and the actuator, the controller adapted to control the application of the force, wherein the force is applied to the elongated member as a haptic indication to the user when the elongated member has been moved a predetermined distance or to a predetermined position by the user in the degree of freedom”).
Regarding claim 37, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the tracking wheel, the idler wheel, the tracking sensor, and the communications module are housed within a sealed enclosure (see 10 in Fig. 2).
Regarding claim 38, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) a surgical system (medical endoscope instrument), comprising: an elongate member (4) configured to translate in a longitudinal direction (L); a tracking wheel (motion sensing and control wheel 18), having: an outer edge (cylindrical outer edge) configured to engage the elongate member (elongate portion of working channel tool 4) such that the tracking wheel is configured to rotate about an axis (axis along shaft 15) during translation of the elongate member (par. 21: “ the elongate portion of working channel tool 4 passes between motion sensing and control wheel 18 and idler wheel 13, it causes rotation of each wheel”) in the longitudinal direction, and at least one tracking feature (marks imprinted on transparent optical encoder disk 14), and a tracking sensor (plurality of light sensors in encoder reader 16) configured to detect the at least one tracking feature and to provide data indicative of an angular position of the at least one tracking feature relative to the axis (par. 21: “determine the amount and direction of rotational motion of encoder disk 14”).
Regarding claim 39, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) a drive assembly configured to drive translation of the elongate member in the longitudinal direction (drive assembly is interpreted to be the assembly connected to left side of bracket 20 shown above), wherein the drive assembly comprises at least one roller (idler wheel 13).
Regarding claim 40, Merril teaches (reproduced and annotated Fig. 3 above) the elongate member comprises a catheter (par. 7: “catheter”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Merril in view of Beauprey (US 4533830 A).
Regarding claim 31, in device of Merril, tracking feature of tracking wheel 14 comprises imprinted marks and not aperture defined through the tracking wheel; also tracking wheel of Merril is transparent and not opaque.
Beauprey teaches an optical encoder comprising an opaque tracking wheel (disc 74) with at least one tracking feature (apertures 78), wherein the at least one tracking feature comprises an aperture (apertures 78) defined through the tracking wheel (col. 4, lines 46-52 and col. 5, lines 24-48).
Therefore, because these two encoder discs/tracking wheels were art-recognized equivalents before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to substitute apertured disc/tracking wheel of Beauprey for marked disc/tracking wheel of Merril.
Claims 24 and 27-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Merril in view of Murphy (US 20140276233 A1).
Regarding claim 27, Merril does not show an alert system.
Murphy teaches a catheter system with an “alert or alarm indicating a problem with working catheter advancement” (see par. 100).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to add alarm system to catheter device of Merril. Doing so would alarm operator with catheter advancement issues.
Regarding claim 28, Merril teaches the tracking assembly is in communication (wire communication) with a drive assembly (drive assembly is interpreted to be the assembly connected to left side of bracket 20 shown above) associated with the elongate member. However Merril does not show stop command to the drive assembly.
Murphy teaches a catheter system with a stop command to the drive assembly (claim 16: “a signal to a controller to stop translation of the guide wire”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to add stop command to the controller of catheter device of Merril. Doing so would make it possible to stop catheter translation when needed.
Regarding claim 24, in device of Merril the communications module is configured to wiredly transmit the data to the tracking assembly.
Murphy teaches a catheter system with wired or wireless communications.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to use wireless communications in catheter device of Merril for more mobility.
Claim 25 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Merril in view of Murphy as applied to claims 23 and 24, and further in view of Ikeda (US 5911694 A).
Regarding claim 25, in catheter device of Merril the tracking wheel, the tracking sensor, and the communications module are housed within a sealed enclosure; also in catheter device of Merril the tracking assembly is also disposed inside of the sealed enclosure and not outside of it.
Ikeda teaches an endoscope with “a controller 237 that is located outside the endoscope 235” (col. 26, line 59-col. 27, line 8).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to locate tracking assembly outside of the sealed closure of catheter device of Merril. Doing so would reduce the size of the closure.
Conclusion
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MAHDI H. NEJAD
Examiner
Art Unit 3723
/MAHDI H NEJAD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3723