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
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 6 recites “altering the color,” in line 1. Instead, this should be recited as “altering a color.”
Claim 6 recites “non real-time,” in line 3. Instead, this should be recited as “non-real time,” so that the recitation consistent with the remaining claims.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Prisco (US 20220007919).
Regarding claim 1, Prisco discloses a system (FIG. 1) for creating a panoramic view of a surgical procedure, the system comprising;
a camera (an image capturing device 141; FIG. 1) positionable in a body cavity for capturing real time images of a surgical site within a body cavity (Para [0047]);
a display (FIG. 6) for displaying the real time images in real times;
at least one computing unit and at least one memory (FIG. 2) storing instructions executable by the at least one computing unit to
receive the real time images (The endoscope takes real time images as it travels through the different organs. Para [0047]; Panoramic image is generated using the current and previously captured images; Para [0066], [0052]; claims 42, 48 ) captured by the camera at time t during a surgical procedure;
stitch the real time images with non-real time images of the body cavity, said non-real time images captured during the surgical procedure prior to time t, where said stitching creates a panoramic image (Panoramic image is generated using the current and previously captured images; Para [0066], [0052]; claims 42, 48); and
display the panoramic image on the display (FIG. 6; display screen 600; para [0066]).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shino (US 20220337746) in view of Kumar (US 20150045619).
Regarding claim 1, Shino a system (FIG. 1) for creating a panoramic view of a surgical procedure, the system comprising;
a camera positionable in a body cavity for capturing real time images of a surgical site within a body cavity (Image processing device 1 acquires from the endoscope 3 an image which the endoscope 3 captures in time series. Para [0036]);
a display (Display 2) for displaying the real time images in real times;
at least one computing unit and at least one memory (Image processing device 1) storing instructions executable by the at least one computing unit to receive the real time images captured by the camera at time t during a surgical procedure;
stitch the non-real time images (The images are combined by extracting feature, matching features points and combining them to generate a panoramic image; FIG. 9; Para [0105], [0112]; Images from the previous inspections are used. Para [0089]-[0090]) of the body cavity, said non-real time images captured during the surgical procedure prior to time t, where said stitching creates a panoramic image (Image processing device 1 generates a panoramic image, based on a plurality of captured images of the substantially the entire lumen of the large bowel in pieces and which are generated in the insertion process or the ejection process of the endoscope 3 in the past endoscopic inspection; Para [0036]; The panoramic image generating unit 43 generates the panoramic image; FIG. 3; Para [0104]); and
display (Display 2; FIG.2) the panoramic image on the display.
Shino does not expressly disclose using real-time images in forming panoramic image.
Kumar is directed to a system for mosaicing endoscope images (abstract) and teaches using real-time images in forming panoramic image (System can create a larger view mosaic/panoramic of the scene in near real-time. Para [0013]; As the endoscope 10 moves, the computer 20 conducts the foregoing steps in near real-time to update the mosaiced image. Para [0030]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shino to include the real time images in generating and displaying panoramic in accordance with the teaching of Kumar so that real-time panoramic could be generated and used during surgical procedure.
Regarding claim 2, Shino wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one computing unit to repeat the receiving, stitching and displaying steps multiple times during the course of the surgical procedure (Note the repeating process of these process steps in FIG. 8 wherein if the inspection is not terminated, the acquiring and storing images are repeated. Note step S105.).
Claim(s) 3-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shino (US 20220337746) in view of Kumar (US 20150045619) and further in view of Barral (US 10639104).
Regarding claim 3, Shino does not expressly disclose wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one computing unit to alert the user if a displayed non-real time image is an aged non-real time image.
Barral is directed to an image guided surgery (abstract) and teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one computing unit to alert the user if a displayed non-real time image is an aged non-real time image (Warning is provided to indicate to the medical practitioner that the image data may be stale. Col. 6, lines 6-24).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify Shino to include warning in accordance with the teaching of Barral so that the inclusion of old data (stale data) in image could be notified to the user.
Regarding claim 4, Shino, as modified, teaches wherein a non-real time image is an aged non-real time image if a period of time between initial capture of said non-real time image and a present time exceeds a predetermined duration (Barral: Warning is provided to indicate to the medical practitioner that the image data may be stale. Col. 6, lines 6-24; Note that to determine stale data one would need to determine a point of time in the past before which the data is considered as stale data.).
Regarding claim 5, Shino, as modified, teaches wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one computing unit to determine if the displayed non-real time image is an aged non-real time image (Barral: Warning is provided to indicate to the medical practitioner that the image data may be stale. Col. 6, lines 6-24; Note that this requires a determination that the data is old data.).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shino (US 20220337746) in view of Kumar (US 20150045619) and further in view of Barral (US 10639104) and Inoue (JP 2003150603).
Regarding claim 6, Shino does not expressly disclose wherein the alert comprises altering the color of a non-real time image in said panoramic image after said non-real time image is determined to be an aged non real-time image.
Inoue is directed to image processor system (abstract) and teaches wherein the alert comprises altering the color of a non-real time image in an image after said non-real time image is determined to be an aged non real-time image (If it is not within the predetermined period, the reference image is considered as the old image, and the operator is cautioned by changing the display color of only the reference image.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Shino to change the color of the old portion of the image in the panoramic image in accordance with the teaching of Inoue so that old image could be identified and could be used during the analysis of the panoramic image.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO – 892. The examiner notes that when a panoramic image is provided by combining two or more pieces of image as the camera moves, all the previous images taken can be considered as non-real time image. The following art teach generating a panoramic image.
US 20170340198 A1 Elazar; Gidon Oded et al.
US 20230346199 A1 Kristensen; Marco D.F. et al.
US 20200138518 A1 Lang; Philipp K.
US 20110188726 A1 Nathaniel; Ram et al.
US 20220007919 A1 Prisco; Giuseppe Maria
US 20220028078 A1 Shelton; Kurt G. et al.
US 20130286174 A1 Urakabe; Nobuchika
US 20160295126 A1 Wang; Kang-Huai et al.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANKAR R GHIMIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-0515. The examiner can normally be reached 8 AM - 5 PM.
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/SHANKAR RAJ GHIMIRE/Examiner, Art Unit 3795
/ANH TUAN T NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
11/19/2025