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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I claims 1-16 in the reply filed on 6/16/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 12 recites “the base section”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 13 recites “wherein the axial film holder is defined between the base and the cap”. It is not clear what defined means in this context and is therefore indefinite. Claims that depend on the above rejected claims are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph.
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.
Claim(s) 1-11, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paliwal (US 2003/0231740 A1).
With respect to Claim 1 Paliwal teaches A phantom, comprising: (See Abstract) a body including a peripheral ring portion defining a central axis of the body and of the phantom and a center portion at least partially encircled by the peripheral ring portion or fully encircled by the peripheral ring portion, the center portion aligned with and extending along the central axis of the body (See Fig 1-4); a peripheral film holder defined by the peripheral ring portion and at least partially encircling or fully encircling the central axis, the peripheral film holder configured to receive and hold at least one peripheral film (See Para[0011] Specifically then, the present invention provides a radiation phantom having a film holder providing a spiral support for radiation sensitive film within an attenuating material. The radiation sensitive film, when placed in the film holder, extends along the spiral support to an outer film limit at which point a housing surrounds the film holder and provides a build up region equalizing radiation sensitivity of the radiation sensitive film near the outer film limit and the radiation sensitive film removed from the outer film limit, i.e., at the center of the spiral); and defined by the center portion and oriented perpendicular to the central axis, the axial film holder configured to receive and hold at least one axial film. (See Para[0038] A cylindrical film holder 42 fits within the volume defined by the tubular body 32 and end caps 34 and 36 and is thus protected from light. The film holder 42 provides a spiral slot 44 extending a full length of the film holder between the cylinder bases. The spiral slot 44 preferably conforms to an Archimedean spiral meaning that its radius from a longitudinal center axis of the cylindrical film holder 42 increases linearly with angle without the center axis of the cylindrical film holder 42. This results in the spiral arms having constant radial separation producing more uniformity of sampling when a detector film is placed within the spiral slot 44. Ideally, this spiral extends at least two revolutions or about 6.6 radians about the axis.) However Paliwal is silent to the language of an axial film holder Nevertheless it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to have a axial film holder, since Paliwal teaches a spiral slot. This slot has been interpreted as the axial film holder which results in the spiral arms having constant radial separation producing more uniformity of sampling when a detector film is placed within the spiral slot With respect to Claim 2 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the peripheral ring portion fully encircles the center portion. (See Fig 4) With respect to Claim 3 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 2, wherein the peripheral film holder fully encircles the central axis. (See Fig 4) With respect to Claim 4 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the phantom is configured to be exposed to radiation such that both the at least one peripheral film and the at least one second axial film are simultaneously exposed to the radiation. (See Para[0042]) With respect to Claim 5 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the peripheral ring portion includes an inner ring and an outer ring at least partially encircling the inner ring, at least a portion of the outer ring removably coupled to or configured to be removably coupled with the inner ring; and wherein the peripheral film holder is a peripheral slot. (See Fig 5 and Para[0051]) With respect to Claim 6 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 5, wherein at least a portion of the outer ring is removable from the inner ring to expose at least about 180° of a film supporting surface of the inner ring. (See Fig 5 and Para[0051]) With respect to Claim 7 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 5, wherein the peripheral slot is formed between a radially inward facing surface of the outer ring and a radially outward facing surface of the inner ring. (See Fig 5 and Para[0051]) With respect to Claim 8 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 5, wherein the peripheral slot extends at least about 180° about the center axis between the outer ring and the inner ring. (See Fig 1-5) With respect to Claim 9 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 5, wherein the peripheral slot extends at least about 270° about the center axis between the outer ring and the inner ring. (See Fig 1-5) With respect to Claim 10 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 5, wherein the peripheral slot extends about 360° about the center axis between the outer ring and the inner ring. (See Fig 1-5) With respect to Claim 11 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the peripheral film holder is configured such that at least one peripheral film positioned in the peripheral film holder would have a front surface or a back surface facing a cylindrically shaped surface of the peripheral film holder with an axis of a cylinder of the cylindrically shaped surface being the central axis of the phantom. (See Fig 1-5) With respect to Claim 15 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the axial film holder is oriented perpendicular to the central axis of the body. (See Fig 1-4)
Claim(s) 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paliwal (US 2003/0231740 A1) in view of Dawson (US6,364,529 B1).
With respect to Claim 12 Paliwal is silent to the language of The phantom of claim 1, wherein the center portion includes a base and a cap configured to be removably coupled to the base section. Nevertheless Dawson teaches wherein the center portion includes a base and a cap configured to be removably coupled to the base section (See Col 2 lined 40-52). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Paliwal and have a base and cap such as that of Dawson. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify Paliwal to improve stability.
With respect to Claim 13 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 12, wherein the axial film holder is defined between the base and the cap. (See Fig 1-4) With respect to Claim 14 Paliwal is silent to the language of The phantom of claim 12, wherein a surface of the base facing the cap includes a recess configured to receive the at least one axial film. Nevertheless Dawson teaches wherein a surface of the base facing the cap includes a recess configured to receive the at least one axial film. (See Fig 1 and Abstract). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Paliwal wherein a surface of the base facing the cap includes a reces such as that of Dawson. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify Paliwal to hold the film properly.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Paliwal (US 2003/0231740 A1) in view of Cho (US 2010/0288916 A1).
With respect to Claim 16 Paliwal teaches The phantom of claim 1, wherein the peripheral film holder configured to receive and hold the at least one peripheral film is configured to hold at least one film, and wherein the axial film holder configured to receive and hold the at least one axial film is configured to hold at least one film. ( See Fig 1-4) However Paliwal is silent to radiochromic film Nevertheless Cho teaches radiochromic film (See Para[0029] In some example embodiments, the phantom is cylindrical in shape, and a radiochromic film may be wrapped around the outside or inside of the phantom. In general, the phantom may be configured to allow a detector surface (e.g., a radiochromic film) to be fastened to it in a panoramic manner, exposing the film to radiation sources from a plurality of directions.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Paliwal and use radiochromic film such as that of Cho One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify Paliwal because radiochromic film would change color upon exposure to ionizing radiation, allowing for accurate measurement of radiation doses.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOSHIHISA ISHIZUKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7050. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 11:00-7:00.
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YOSHIHISA . ISHIZUKA
Examiner
Art Unit 2857
/YOSHIHISA ISHIZUKA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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