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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/7/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cohen (20160062100) hereafter Cohen.
Regarding claims 1, 14, and 24 Cohen discloses an objective lens (The apparatus 100 includes an objective lens 110 and microlens phase mask (141, FIG. 1); Paragraph [0041]) comprising: one or more lenses (The apparatus 100 includes an objective lens 110; Paragraph [0041]); an outer housing configured to encompass at least the one or more lenses (The apparatus 100 in FIG. 1, which Includes the lenses 110 and 120, is a microscope. This microscope includes said lenses; Paragraphs [0018] and [0040]); and a mask to shape a point spread function (PSF) of the objective lens to define an engineered PSF (ePSF) of the objective lens (A microlens phase mask (141, FIG. 1) is selected to control a diffraction pattern on the detector plane of the light rays received from different depths; second Paragraph [0040] and Paragraph [0041]; the objective phase mask can be used to control the size of the PSF at the native image plane that is sampled by the microlenses, and the microlens phase masks shape the PSF Bt the detector plane so that high frequencies can be resolved over a wide range of depths (Paragraph [0033]).
Regarding claims 2, 16, 27, and 28, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1. wherein the objective lens is designed for computational imaging (Light rays are shown passing from an object 160, through the objective 110, tube lens 150 and microlens array 120, and being imaged at photodetector 130. The phase masks 140-and/or 141 can be implemented to alter phase characteristics of the light rays, with the resulting light that reaches the photodetector 130 being processed accordingly, Paragraph [0042]; The objective and tube lens in a well-corrected, doubly-telecentric microscope can be modeled as 4-f system, such as shown in FIG. 1. The objective's focal length, denoted fob] can be calculated from the known magnification M and the tube lens focal length ft, Paragraph [0047]; FIG. 1).
Regarding claims 3 and 17, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is configured to modulate at least one of phase, amplitude, or polarization (one or more phase masks are implemented using a phase spatial light modulator (SLM), allowing for dynamic, real-time control over the phase function; Paragraph [0036]).
Regarding claims 4 and 18, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is implemented by at least one of a diffractive optic, a refractive optic, a holographic optic, a metasurface optic, an aspheric optic, a free-form optic, a spatial light modulator, a deformable lens, or a prism array (one or more phase masks are implemented using a phase spatial light modulator (SLM), allowing for dynamle, real-time control over the phase function: Paragraph [0036]).
Regarding claim 5, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is positioned in an exit pupil of the objective lens (As shown in FIG. 1, the objective phase mask 140 is positioned behind the objective lens 110, Paragraph [0041]; dobj is the diameter of the
objective's back aperture and Pobj (r) is the objective's pupil function, Paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 6, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 5, wherein the exit pupil is positioned near or external to a back aperture of the objective lens (As shown in FIG. 1, the objective phase mask 140 is positioned behind the objective lens 110, Paragraph [0041]; dob]
is the diameter of the objective's back aperture and Pobj(r) is the objective's pupil function, Paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claim 7, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is implemented in an optical element positioned external to the objective lens, the optical element retained at a fixed location relative to the objective lens (As shown in FIG. 1, mask 141 is positioned between tube lens 150 and photodetector 130 in a microscope; Paragraphs [0018], [0040], and [0042]).
Regarding claim 8, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is positioned in a pupil plane, an image plane, or other location of the objective lens (light rays are shown passing from an object 160, through the objective 110, tube lens 150 and microlens
array 120, and being Imaged at photodetector 130. The phase masks 140 and/or 141 can be implemented to alter phase characteristics of the light rays, with the resulting light that reaches the photodetector 130 being processed accordingly; Paragraph [0042]).
Regarding claim 9, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is positioned within the outer housing, the one or more lenses include 3 first lens and 3 second lens, and the mask is positioned between the first and second lenses within the outer housing lens (light rays are shown passing from an object 160, through the objective 110, tube lens 150 and microlens array 120, and being imaged at photodetector 130. The phase masks 140 and/or 141 can be implemented to alter phase characteristics of the light rays, with the resulting
light that reaches the photodetector 130 being processed accordingly; Paragraph [0042]; The apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 is a microscope; Paragraphs [0018] and [0040]).
Regarding claim 10, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is attached to or formed in or on one or more surfaces of the one or more lenses (light rays are shown passing from an object 160, through the objective 110, tube lens 150 and microlens array 120, and being imaged at photodetector 130. The phase masks 140 and/or 141 can be implemented to alter phase characteristics of the light rays, with the resulting light that reaches the photodetector 130 being processed accordingly; Paragraph [0042]; The apparatus 100 in FIG. 1 is a microscope; Paragraphs [0018] and [0040]).
Regarding claims 11 and 19, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is Implemented in an optical element that includes at least one of an extended depth of field mask, a cubic phase mask, a double helix point spread function mask, a diffractive optical element, a grating, a Dammann grating, a diffuser, a phase mask, a hologram, an amplitude mask, a spatial light modulator, or a prism array (one or more phase masks are implemented using a phase spatial light modulator (SLM), allowing for dynamic, real-time control over the phase function; Paragraph [0036]).
Regarding claims 12, 15, and 25, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein at least one of: a maximum of the ePSF describes one or more curves in 3D space; at least one of the mask or at least one of the one or more lenses operates in reflection mode; the mask is designed to optimize the ePSF for 2D imaging; the mask is designed to optimize the ePSF for 3D imaging; or the mask generates a set of at least two spots located in 3D space (the objective mask can be implemented to improve the LFM resolution profile for reconstructing both 2D planes (off the object native plane) and 3D volumes and create a more uniform resolution profile across Z depths; Paragraph [0033]; a 2D plane or a 3D volume is reconstructed from a light field image according to an Inverse problem of the form f=Hg, where f is the light field image, 9 is the reconstructed volume (or plane) and H is a measurement matrix modeling the forward imaging process. H is constructed by modeling the propagation of light from a point source in a given location in the volume through the LFM and results in a diffraction pattern on the detector plane 130; Paragraph [0044]).
Regarding claims 13, 21, and 22, Cohen discloses the objective lens of claim 1, wherein the mask is designed to correct for, or optimize for, one or more optical aberrations in one or more of an image plane or a defocus plane (An image plane is shown in FIG. 1 where an image is captured by a photodetector, Paragraph [0042]. Cohen further teaches that [t]he objective and tube lens in a well-corrected, doubly-telecentric microscope can be modeled as 4-f system, such as shown in FIG. 1. If desired, Tob](r) [see equation in Paragraph [0047]] can also accommodate any wavefront error that is the result of optical aberrations in the objective, Paragraph [0047]).
Regarding claims 20 and 26, Cohen discloses wherein the light received from the scene or the sample is the result of one or more of the following: scattering, transmission, reflection, luminescence, absorption, polarization, phase shift, fluorescence, two or multi-photon fluorescence, high harmonic generation, refraction, and/or diffraction at or from the one or more objects within the scene or the sample (par. [0031]-[0044]).
Regarding claim 23, Cohen discloses wherein the detector comprises a camera, a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array, a complementary metal-oxide- semiconductor (CMOS) active-pixel sensor (APS), or a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor (par. [0033]-[0034]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES JONES whose telephone number is (571)270-1278. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAMES C. JONES/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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