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 .
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application PRO 63/371,193 under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Applicant has complied with one or more conditions for receiving the benefit of an earlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) and claims 1-20 have been afforded the priority date.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/19/2024. The submission is in compliance. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 3 objected to because of the following informalities: the use of “non-traditional” is unclear because there is no frame of reference or definition for traditional vs. nontraditional in the claims or specification. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification.
Under MPEP 2143.03, "All words in a claim must be considered in judging the patentability of that claim against the prior art." In re Wilson, 424 F.2d 1382, 1385, 165 USPQ 494, 496 (CCPA 1970). As a general matter, the grammar and ordinary meaning of terms as understood by one having ordinary skill in the art used in a claim will dictate whether, and to what extent, the language limits the claim scope. Language that suggests or makes a feature or step optional but does not require that feature or step does not limit the scope of a claim under the broadest reasonable claim interpretation. In addition, when a claim requires selection of an element from a list of alternatives, the prior art teaches the element if one of the alternatives is taught by the prior art. See, e.g., Fresenius USA, Inc. v. Baxter Int’l, Inc., 582 F.3d 1288, 1298, 92 USPQ2d 1163, 1171 (Fed. Cir. 2009).
Claim 2 recite “or” then listing “configured to determine a location of tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample” and “count a number of the components within the biological sample, or determine interactions of the components within the biological sample”. Since “or” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 4 recite “or” then listing “optical element is housed within the objective lens or comprises a separate device physically attached to the objective lens”. Since “or” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 7 recite “at least one of” then listing “ at least one of the objective lens, a thickness of the biological sample, or a density of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 12 recite “at least one of” then listing “extracting a location of the components within the biological sample within the extended depth of field from the data representative of the biological sample within the extended depth of field”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 13 recite “at least one of” then listing “at least one of the locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components, the number of the components, or the interaction”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 14 recite “at least one of” then listing “at least one of locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components, interactions of the components, a number of the components, densities of the components, clusters of the components, chromaticity of the components, brightness of the components, colocations of the components, trajectories of the components, or velocity of the components.”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 17 recite “at least one of” then listing “at least one of: extracting a location of the components within the biological sample within the extended depth of field from the data representative of the biological sample within the extended depth of field”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 18 recite “at least one of” then listing “at least one of the location of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components, the number of the components, or the interactions of the components”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim 19 recite “at least one of” then listing “at least one of locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components, interactions of the components, densities of the components, clusters of the components, chromaticity of the components, brightness of the components, colocations of the components, trajectories of the components, or velocity of the components.”. Since “at least one” is disjunctive, any one of the elements found in the prior art is sufficient to reject the claim. While citations have been provided for completeness and rapid prosecution, only one element is required. Because, on balance, it appears the disjunctive interpretation enjoys the most specification support and for that reason the disjunctive interpretation (one of A, B OR C) is being adopted for the purposes of this Office Action. Applicant’s comments and/or amendments relating to this issue are invited to clarify the claim language and the prosecution history.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 4-13, 15-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Cang et al. (WO Patent Publication WO2022/056385 A1 hereafter referred to as Cang) in view of Lamanna et al. (Lamanna, J., Scott, E.Y., Edwards, H.S. et al. Digital microfluidic isolation of single cells for -Omics. Nat Commun 11, 5632 (2020). hereafter referred to as Lamanna).
Regarding Claim 1, Cang teaches an optical system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system) comprising:
an objective lens (Cang ¶0007, ¶0026 disclose an objective lens) comprising a back focal plane (Cang ¶0057, ¶0058 Fig 4b disclose an objective lens at the back focal plane);
a camera (Cang ¶0020, Fig 11 discloses a camera) configured to capture an image (Cang ¶0020, Fig 11 discloses a camera taking an image) representative of a biological sample (Cang ¶0042- ¶0044 discloses a biological sample being the subject); and
an optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) optically coupled to the back focal plane (Cang ¶0058 discloses the optical elements with the back focal plane), the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) configured to extend a depth of field defined by the objective lens (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) to capture the image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses obtaining an image of a representation of the structure) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane).
Cang does not explicitly teach and maintain light throughput to permit the camera.
Lamanna is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Lamanna teaches and maintain light throughput to permit the camera (Lamanna, Pg 3 Fig 1 a discloses how the optical element is clear in parts allowing the light to move through to the sample).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang by incorporating optics dielectric phase mask physically attached to the microscope enabling the counting and interaction observation of various cell components, as taught by Lamanna, to make an invention that can be attached to an array of microscopes to allow for the observation of individual and groups of cell components of interest at a microscopic level in the sample; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to i) select only cells of interest for sequencing from a small initial sample, (ii) connect single-cell sequences to image-based phenotypes, and (iii) allow sequencing analysis by multiple -Omics techniques without the requirement of physically separating or dissociating single cells from their neighbors. (Lamanna, Pg 8, Col 2 ¶01).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 2, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system) of claim 1 further comprising a computing device (Cang ¶0073-¶0074 discloses a computing device) communicatively coupled to the camera (Cang ¶0073-¶0074 discloses a computing device connected to any subject matter mentioned in the disclosure), the computing device (Cang ¶0073-¶0074 discloses a computing device) configured to determine a location of tissue (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends), count a number of the components within the biological sample (Lamanna Pg 11 Col 2 ¶04 and Col 1 ¶01 discloses a quantity of DNA within the sample), or determine interactions of the components within the biological sample (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain) based on the image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses obtaining an image of a representation of the structure) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 4, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) is housed within the objective lens (Cang Fig 3, 315 ¶0052 discloses the optical element being a part of the lens) or comprises a separate device physically attached to the objective lens (Lamanna, Pg 3 Fig 1 a discloses how the optical element is attached physically to the lens). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 5, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) is configured to cause the extended depth (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) of field to be greater (Cang ¶0075 discloses being plus or minus 10% of the specified value of the lens) than the depth of field defined by the objective lens (Cang ¶0075 discloses the extension being plus or minus 10% of the specified value of the lens). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 6, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) comprises a passive device (Lamanna Pg 8 Col 1 ¶03 discloses a high through put microfluidic techniques which is considered a passive device) with a fixed alignment (Cang ¶0061 discloses fixed focal planes and 0062 discloses a precision mounting plate with fixed alignment). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 7, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 2, wherein the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) comprises a device (Cang ¶0027, ¶0034, ¶0035 discloses the devices used in the disclosure) that is based on at least one of the objective lens (Cang Fig 5A discloses an objective lens), a thickness of the biological sample (Cang ¶0045 describes the thickness of the sample as it resides in the sample plate), or a density of the tissue (Cang ¶0045 discloses the density of the sample), cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 8, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system) is configured to improve throughput of imaging (Cang ¶0028 discloses increasing the throughput of imaging) or analysis of spatial 'omics sciences (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain and Pg 2 Col 1 ¶01 discloses using omics in analysis to assess genomes and more). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 9, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 2, wherein the computing device (Cang ¶0070 discloses a computing device) is configured to maintain or improve an image resolution (Cang ¶0035, ¶0049, ¶0069 discloses improving the image resolution) defined by the objective lens (Cang Fig 5A discloses an objective lens) See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 10, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system) of claim 1, further comprising:
a tube lens (Cang ¶0040 discloses a tube lens) configured to permit light (Cang Fig 1 and Fig 2 display how light travels to the sample) from the biological sample to traverse the tube lens (Cang Fig 3 discloses multiple depth illuminations traversing through the illuminator); and
a reflector (Cang ¶0022, Fig 12D discloses a reflective surface) configured to re-direct light rays (Cang ¶0022, 12D discloses movable posts attached to the reflective surface) from the tube lens (Cang ¶0040 discloses a tube lens) to the camera(Cang ¶0020, Fig 11 discloses a camera). See Claim 1 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 11, Cang teaches a system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system) comprising:
one or more computer-readable storage media (Cang ¶0070 discloses a computer readable medium with storage) configured to store instructions (Cang ¶0070 discloses a computer readable medium with storage configured to receive and store instructions); and
one or more processors communicatively coupled to the one or more computer-readable storage media (Cang ¶0070 discloses processors part of a computer readable medium) and configured to, in response to execution of the instructions, cause the system to perform operations (Cang ¶0070 discloses executing instructions to perform functions), the operations comprising:
receiving data representative of a biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane);
extracting information corresponding to tissue, (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends), within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane); and of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components based on the extracted information (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends).
Cang does not explicitly teach determining 'omics information.
Lamanna is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Lamanna teaches determining 'omics information (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain and Pg 2 Col 1 ¶01 discloses using omics in analysis to assess genomes and more).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang by incorporating optics dielectric phase mask physically attached to the microscope enabling the counting and interaction observation of various cell components, as taught by Lamanna, to make an invention that can be attached to an array of microscopes to allow for the observation of individual and groups of cell components of interest at a microscopic level in the sample; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to i) select only cells of interest for sequencing from a small initial sample, (ii) connect single-cell sequences to image-based phenotypes, and (iii) allow sequencing analysis by multiple -Omics techniques without the requirement of physically separating or dissociating single cells from their neighbors. (Lamanna, Pg 8, Col 2 ¶01).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 12, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the system of claim 11, wherein the operation extracting the information corresponding to the tissue, (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), cellular, or sub-cellular components (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends) comprises at least one of:
extracting a location of the components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer) (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane;
extracting a number of the components within the biological sample (Lamanna Pg 5 Col 1 ¶01 discloses extracting sequence information in DNA) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane);
or extracting interactions of the components within the biological sample (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain based on generating transcriptomes from B16 cells) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane. See Claim 11 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 13, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the system of claim 12, wherein:
the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) comprises a single image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses combining multiple images into a single image representative of the sample resulting in a greater depth of image) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane); and
at least one of the locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), the number of the components (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain), or the interactions of the components (Lamanna Pg 11 Col 2 ¶04 and Col 1 ¶01 discloses a quantity of DNA within the sample) are extracted from the single image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses combining multiple images into a single image representative of the sample resulting in a greater depth of image) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane). See Claim 11 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 15, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the system of claim 11, wherein the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) is defined by an objective lens (Cang Fig 5A discloses an objective lens) and an optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) optically coupled to a back focal plane of the objective lens (Cang ¶0058 discloses the optical elements with the back focal plane). See Claim 11 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 16, Cang teaches a method (Cang ¶0047, ¶0069 discloses a method) comprising:
receiving data representative of a biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane);
extracting information corresponding to tissue, (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), cellular, or sub-cellular components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends), within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane); and of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components based on the extracted information (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends).
Cang does not explicitly teach determining 'omics information.
Lamanna is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Lamanna teaches determining 'omics information (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain and Pg 2 Col 1 ¶01 discloses using omics in analysis to assess genomes and more).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang by incorporating optics dielectric phase mask physically attached to the microscope enabling the counting and interaction observation of various cell components, as taught by Lamanna, to make an invention that can be attached to an array of microscopes to allow for the observation of individual and groups of cell components of interest at a microscopic level in the sample; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to i) select only cells of interest for sequencing from a small initial sample, (ii) connect single-cell sequences to image-based phenotypes, and (iii) allow sequencing analysis by multiple -Omics techniques without the requirement of physically separating or dissociating single cells from their neighbors. (Lamanna, Pg 8, Col 2 ¶01).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 17, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the method of claim 16, wherein extracting the information corresponding to the tissue (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), cellular, or sub-cellular components (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends) comprises at least one of:
extracting a location of the components within the biological sample (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer) (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer and the sample location relative to the fibers of the focus ends) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane);
extracting a number of the components (Lamanna Pg 5 Col 1 ¶01 discloses extracting sequence information in DNA) within the biological sample within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane; or
extracting interactions of the components (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain) within the biological sample within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) from the data representative of the biological sample(Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within an extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane). See Claim 16 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 18, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the method of claim 17, wherein:
the data representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0027 discloses receiving image data of the structures in the planes of the samples) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) comprises a single image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses combining multiple images into a single image representative of the sample resulting in a greater depth of image) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane); and
at least one of the locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components(Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), the number of the components, (Lamanna Pg 5 Col 1 ¶01 discloses extracting sequence information in DNA) or the interactions of the components (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain) are extracted from the single image representative of the biological sample (Cang ¶0069 discloses combining multiple images into a single image representative of the sample resulting in a greater depth of image) within the extended depth of field (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane). See Claim 16 for rationale (its parent claim).
Regarding Claim 20, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the extended depth (Cang ¶0058, ¶0061, ¶0075 disclose extending the optical plane) is defined by an objective lens (Cang Fig 5A discloses an objective lens) and an optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) optically coupled to a back focal plane of the objective lens (Cang ¶0058 discloses the optical elements with the back focal plane). See Claim 16 for rationale (its parent claim).
Claims 3, 14, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Cang view of Lamanna in further view of Schechtman et al (US Patent Publication 2019/0246092 A1 here after referred to as Shechtman).
Regarding Claim 3, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the optical system of claim 1, wherein the optical element (Cang ¶0052, ¶0056, discloses an optical element) comprises a non-traditional optics dielectric phase mask (Lamanna Pg 3 Fig 1 C discloses an optics dielectric phase mask) of the optical system (Cang ¶0004, ¶0055, discloses an optical system).
Cang in view of Lamanna does not explicitly teach configured to modify a point spread function (PSF).
Shechtman is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Shechtman teaches configured to modify a point spread function (PSF) (Shechtman ¶0007-0008 discloses a point spread function and modifying it).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang in view of Lamanna by incorporating a point spread function to increase depth of field rang and characteristics of the components, as taught by Shechtman, to make an invention that can observe an array of characteristics of the cell component at a deeper range allowing for deeper analysis; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to increase clarity of objects that are a small distance above or below the focal plane. (Shechtman, ¶0036).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 14, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the system of claim 11, wherein the 'omics information (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain and Pg 2 Col 1 ¶01 discloses using omics in analysis to assess genomes and more) comprises at least one of locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components (Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), interactions of the components (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain), a number of the components, (Lamanna Pg 11 Col 2 ¶04 and Col 1 ¶01 discloses a quantity of DNA within the sample) densities of the components (Cang ¶0045 discloses the density of the sample), clusters of the components (Cang ¶0044 discloses functional groups attached to the samples), chromaticity of the components, (Lamanna Pg 11 Col 2 ¶02 discloses the samples going through chromatography and mass spectrometry).
Cang in view of Lamanna does not explicitly teach brightness of the components, colocations of the components, trajectories of the components, or velocity of the components.
Shechtman is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Shechtman teaches brightness of the components (Shechtman ¶0071 discloses the brightness of the object in the form of photons), colocations of the components (Shechtman ¶0068 discloses the tracking of multiple locations), trajectories of the components (Shechtman ¶0079 discloses analyzing trajectories), or velocity of the components (Shechtman ¶0086 discloses determining the velocity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang in view of Lamanna by incorporating a point spread function to increase depth of field rang and characteristics of the components, as taught by Shechtman, to make an invention that can observe an array of characteristics of the cell component at a deeper range allowing for deeper analysis; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to increase clarity of objects that are a small distance above or below the focal plane. (Shechtman, ¶0036).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 19, Cang in view of Lamanna teaches the method of claim 16, wherein the 'omics information comprises at least one of locations of the tissue, cellular, or sub-cellular components,(Cang ¶0043, ¶0053 discloses determining the location of a nucleic acid along the polymer), interactions of the components (Lamanna Pg 6 Col 1 ¶01 discloses analysis that can disclose the relationship between cells in the brain), a number of the components (Lamanna Pg 5 Col 1 ¶01 discloses extracting sequence information in DNA) , densities of the components (Cang ¶0045 discloses the density of the sample), clusters of the components (Cang ¶0044 discloses functional groups attached to the samples), chromaticity of the components (Lamanna Pg 11 Col 2 ¶02 discloses the samples going through chromatography and mass spectrometry).
Cang in view of Lamanna does not explicitly teach brightness of the components, colocations of the components, trajectories of the components, or velocity of the components.
Shechtman is in the same field of microscopic image analysis. Further, Shechtman teaches brightness of the components (Shechtman ¶0071 discloses the brightness of the object in the form of photons), colocations of the components (Shechtman ¶0068 discloses the tracking of multiple locations), trajectories of the components (Shechtman ¶0079 discloses analyzing trajectories), or velocity of the components (Shechtman ¶0086 discloses determining the velocity).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Cang in view of Lamanna by incorporating a point spread function to increase depth of field rang and characteristics of the components, as taught by Shechtman, to make an invention that can observe an array of characteristics of the cell component at a deeper range allowing for deeper analysis; thus, one of ordinary skilled in the art would be motivated to combine the references since an object of the present invention is to increase clarity of objects that are a small distance above or below the focal plane. (Shechtman, ¶0036).
Thus, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Reference Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US Patent Pub US-20220163440-A1 to PERTSINIDIS et al. discloses target locking single molecule nanoscopy.
Conclusion
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/RACHEL L ROBERTS/Examiner, Art Unit 2674
/ONEAL R MISTRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2674