DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 10 and 19 are objected to because of the following informalities: line 2 states “hearth rate”; this should be “heart rate”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) a mental task of acquire a first pleth signal based at least in part on capturing ambient light reflected from at least one region of interest (ROI) on a face of the subject; acquire a second pleth signal from a palmar side of a hand of the subject; compute a confidence score for the first pleth signal or the second pleth signal; and compute estimates of at least one vital sign of the subject from the first and second pleth signals and combining the estimates into a final estimate of at least one vital sign based on the confidence score. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional elements of a camera are a pre-solution activity used for obtaining data used and the processing device is a generic computing structure used to perform the abstract idea (e.g. Paragraphs [0037] and [0061] of the published disclosure). The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because cameras are well-known routine and conventional. The examiner takes official notice that cameras are part of computers including mobile communication devices and that the processing device is a generic processing device as indicated by the instant disclosure and therefore does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. The dependent claims do not recite any additional elements and instead discuss the aspects of the abstract idea.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Winter et al (US Publication 2021/0315467) in view of Lee et al (US Publication 2018/0070887).
Referring to Claims 1, 11 and 20, Winter et al teaches a device/method/non-transitory computer readable medium of assessing at least one vital sign of a subject, the method comprising: acquiring a first pleth signal based at least in part on capturing ambient light reflected from at least one region of interest (ROI) on a face of the subject (e.g. Figure 1, Element 120 and Paragraph [0111] discloses obtaining a pleth signal from a camera and Paragraphs [0114], [0116-0119] discloses using the face ); acquiring a second pleth signal from a hand of the subject (e.g. Paragraphs [0025] and [0148-0150]); computing a confidence score for the first pleth signal or the second pleth signal (e.g. Paragraphs [0055]-[0056] and [0104]); computing estimates of the at least one vital sign of the subject from the first and second pleth signals and combining the estimates into a final estimate of the at least one vital sign based on the confidence score (e.g. Paragraphs [0045]-[0048]). However, Winter et al does not explicitly disclose acquiring pleth signal form a palmar side of a hand.
Lee et al teaches that it is known to use a measuring device with a camera to obtain an image of a patients’ face (e.g. Figure 1 and Paragraph [0034]) and a second camera to obtain a second image of a patients’ palmar side of a hand (e.g. Figure 2 and Paragraphs [0034] and [0093]) which can be combined to give an estimate of at least one vital sign (e.g. blood pressure) as set forth in Paragraph [0033] to provide a device that can be relatively small in volume, thus easy to carry, and simple to use, so that a non-specialist can easily measure vitals, such as blood pressure. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one having ordinary skill in the art to modify the system/method/non-transitory computer readable medium as taught by Winter et al, with measuring device with a camera to obtain an image of a patients’ face (e.g. Figure 1 and Paragraph [0034]) and a second camera to obtain a second image of a patients’ palmar side of a hand (e.g. Figure 2 and Paragraph [0034]) which can be combined to give an estimate of at least one vital sign (e.g. blood pressure) as taught by Lee et al, since such a modification would provide the predictable results of a device that can be relatively small in volume, thus easy to carry, and simple to use, so that a non-specialist can easily measure vitals, such as blood pressure.
Referring to Claims 2 and 12, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, wherein the confidence score is computed based on one or more of ambient light, movement of the subject, and regularity of the first pleth signal (e.g. Paragraphs [0055]-[0056] and [0104] discloses indicates a confidence matching the current user from the ambient light monitoring device).
Referring to Claims 3 and 13, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, further comprising: computing a pulse transmit time based at least in part on the first pleth signal and the second pleth signal (e.g. Paragraphs [0019]-[0021] and [0025]).
Referring to Claims 4 and 14, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, wherein the subject is prompted to position the palmar side of the hand for acquisition of the second pleth signal (e.g. Lee et al Figure 2 and Paragraphs [0034] and [0093]).
Referring to Claim 5, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising determining a second confidence score in the second pleth signal (e.g. Paragraphs [0055]-[0056] and [0104]).
Referring to Claim 6, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the method of claim 5, wherein the first pleth signal and the second pleth signal or their respective estimates are weighted by their respective confidence scores (e.g. Paragraphs [0055]-[0056], [0104] and [0177]).
Referring to Claims 7 and 16, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, wherein the first pleth signal is derived from sub-signals collected from a plurality of ROIs on the face of the subject (e.g. Paragraphs [0111], [0114], and [0116-0119]; and Lee et al Figure 1 and Paragraph [0034]).
Referring to Claims 8 and 17, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, wherein the second pleth signal is derived from sub-signals collected from a plurality of ROIs on the hand of the subject (e.g. Lee et al Figure 2 and Paragraph [0034]).
Referring to Claims 9 and 18, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention, wherein the first and second pleth signals are derived from image frames collected using a visible light camera and an infrared camera, the infrared camera configured to extract data associated with skin areas inside ROIs identified on image frames collected by the visible light camera (e.g. Paragraphs [0111], [0113], and [0115-0116]).
Referring to Claims 10 and 19, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the claimed invention wherein the vital sign of the subject assessed is a heart rate, a variability in hearth rate, a respiratory rate, an oxygen saturation, a blood pressure or a combination thereof (e.g. Paragraph [0045]).
Referring to Claim 15, Winter et al in view of Lee et al teaches the device of claim 11, wherein the processing device is further configured to: determine a second confidence score in the second pleth signal, wherein the first pleth signal and the second pleth signal or their respective estimates are weighted by their respective confidence scores (e.g. Paragraphs [0055]-[0056], [0104] and [0177]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. McCann et al (US Publication 2020/0163586) discloses confidence of PPG measurement based on movement.
Lafon et al (US Publication 2020/0000441) discloses the ppg device assigns different weights based on confidence metrics associated with the PPG signals.
Jones et al (US Publication 2022/0008019) discloses removing PPG with low confidence (likely motion) and weight based PPG in hear rate prediction
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/William J Levicky/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796