DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Prosecution on the merits of this application is reopened on claim 2-9 considered unpatentable for the reasons indicated in the Office Action below.
Applicant is advised that the Notice of Allowance mailed 06/25/2025 is vacated. If the issue fee has already been paid, applicant may request a refund or request that the fee be credited to a deposit account. However, applicant may wait until the application is either found allowable or held abandoned. If allowed, upon receipt of a new Notice of Allowance, applicant may request that the previously submitted issue fee be applied. If abandoned, applicant may request refund or credit to a specified Deposit Account.
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.
Claims 2, 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20130237783 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Lisogurski”) in view of US 20080243393 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Yamamoto”).
Regarding claim 2, Lisogurski, an optical sensor system, teaches a low-noise sensor system (abstract) comprising:
an optical sensor (14; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3) within a housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040]), the optical sensor having emitters for transmitting optical radiation into a blood perfused tissue site (34; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3) and detectors responsive to optical radiation after attenuation by blood at a tissue site so as to generate sensor signals (36; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3);
a sensor controller (24; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3) within a housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040]), the sensor controller having a front-end (sensor interface circuitry 42 has a front end; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3) that receives and digitalizes the sensor signal (has an analog to digital converter; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3)
a serializer (40 can be a serial peripheral interface (serializer); paragraph [0037]; Figure 3) within the sensor housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040), the serializer in communications with a shielded conductor (cable 26 can be shielded; paragraph [0040]; Figures 1 and 3) so as to serially transmit the digitized sensor signals to one or more hardware processors (40 communicates with monitor 12 via digital communication interface 52; paragraph [0037]; monitor 12 has a processor; paragraphs [0024]) to derive one or more physiological parameters based on the sensor signals (12 maybe have a processor that measures pulse rate or blood oxygen saturation; paragraph [0024]); and
a display configured to display the one or more physiological parameters (16; paragraph [0024]);
but Lisogurski does not teach an optically isolated portion.
However, Yamamoto teaches an optical isolated portion (optical isolator 15; paragraph [0043] Figure 1). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, to have a digital signal pass through an optical isolated portion, as taught by Yamamoto. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so reduces noise thus allowing the system to produce a more accurate measurement.
Regarding claim 4, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, teaches wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured to cause display of the one or more physiological parameters on a display (displays physiological parameters, such as pulse rate or oxygen saturation; paragraph [0024]).
Claim 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, as applied to claim 2 above, and further in view of US 20160018257 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Mirov”).
Regarding claim 5, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, teaches wherein the interface between the sensor controller and the external monitor consists solely of three conductor wires including a power supply plus (+) conductor (as shown; paragraph [0028]; Figure 4), a power supply minus (-) conductor (as shown; paragraph [0028]; Figure 4; as taught by Lisogurski), and the shielded conductor (cable 26 can be shielded; paragraph [0040]; as taught by Lisogurski).
Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, does not teach the power supply plus and minus conductors being DC power conductors.
However, Mirov teaches a DC power supply as taught by MIROV (a dc power source is attached to a power supply 614 for charging battery; paragraph [0074]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto to have a DC power source, as taught by Mirov. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so provides a type of power supply capable of recharging a battery.
Claim 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of US 20120248985 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “LIN”) and US 5348002 A (hereinafter referred to as “CARO”).
Regarding claim 6, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, teaches wherein the optical sensor comprises emitters and detectors within a housing (emitters 34 and detectors 36; paragraph [0027]; Figures 1-3), but does not explicitly teach a thermoelectric cooler for the emitters and detectors and a temperature regulator.
Lin teaches a first thermoelectric cooler in thermodynamic communications with the emitters (38; paragraph [0031]; Figure 2); and
a temperature regulator that controls the thermoelectric coolers so as to maintain the emitters at predetermined temperatures (processor 50 regulates temperature and maintains temperature control element 38 at a predetermined temperature range; paragraph [0032]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, to cool the emitters and regulate the temperature of the emitter, as taught by Lin. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so cools the emitters and allows a user to regulate the temperature and prevent overheating.
Caro teaches a second thermoelectric cooler in thermodynamic communications with the detectors (detectors are thermoelectrically cooled by a cooler 157; column 12, lines 14-21). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto and Lin, to have a cooler for the detectors, as taught by Caro. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so reduces thermal noise (as taught by Caro; column 12, lines 14-21). Further, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Caro, to have a temperature regulator, as taught by Lin, to cool the detectors. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so allows a user to regulate when to cool the detectors to prevent overheating.
Claims 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, and Caro as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of US 20130278430 A1 (hereinafter referred to as “Poeze”).
Regarding claim 7, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, and Caro, does not explicitly teach wherein a sensor status is transmitted to the one or more hardware processors with sensor data through the interface.
However, Poeze teaches further comprising a sensor status transmitted to the external monitor with the sensor data (temperature sensor data of the sensor can be sent to the monitor for display (which has a processor); paragraph [0029], [0031]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, and Caro, to transmit temperature sensor data to the monitor with the sensor data, as taught by Poeze. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so ensures patient safety, especially in applications with sensitive tissue (as taught by Poeze; paragraph [0029]).
Regarding claim 8, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, and Caro, does not teach a microcontroller that activates the emitters sequentially.
However, Poeze teaches further comprising a micro-controller that sequentially activates the emitters and controls emitter drive currents (emitter driver 234 (micro controller) controls emitters to emit light sequentially; paragraph [0045]). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, and Caro, to have emitters emit light sequentially, as taught by Poeze. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so prevents detectors from detecting peripheral light emitted by an emitter not meant for the detector to detect.
Claims 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, Caro, and Poeze as applied to claim 7 above, and further in view of US 4603700 A (hereinafter referred to as “Nichols”). Regarding claim 9, Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, Caro, and Poeze, teaches wherein the front end further comprises: a programmable gain amplifier that amplifies detector signals (sensor interface circuitry 42 includes an amplifier; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3; as taught by Lisogurki) and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that digitizes the detector signals for transmission to the monitor (24 includes sensor interface circuitry 42 that can include an analog to digital converter; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3; as taught by Lisogurski).
Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, Caro, and Poeze, does not teach amplifying the signals individually.
However, Nichols teaches individually amplifying signals (signals are amplified individually; column 2, lines 18-24). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lisogurski, in view of Yamamoto, Lin, Caro, and Poeze, to amplify signals individually, as taught by Nichols. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification because doing so prevents signal noise.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 3 is allowed.
Regarding claim 3, Lisogurski, an optical sensor system, teaches a low-noise sensor system (abstract) comprising:
an optical sensor (14; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3) within a housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040]), the optical sensor having emitters for transmitting optical radiation into a blood perfused tissue site (34; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3) and detectors responsive to optical radiation after attenuation by blood at a tissue site so as to generate sensor signals (36; paragraph [0027]; Figure 3);
a sensor controller (24; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3) within a housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040]), the sensor controller having a front-end (sensor interface circuitry 42 has a front end; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3) that receives and digitalizes the sensor signal (has an analog to digital converter; paragraph [0035]; Figure 3)
a serializer (40 can be a serial peripheral interface (serializer); paragraph [0037]; Figure 3) within the sensor housing (“In certain other embodiments, all or part of the circuitry of the sensor-monitor intercommunication cable 20 may be incorporated into the medical sensor 14”; paragraph [0040), the serializer in communications with a shielded conductor (cable 26 can be shielded; paragraph [0040]; Figures 1 and 3) so as to serially transmit the digitized sensor signals to one or more hardware processors (40 communicates with monitor 12 via digital communication interface 52; paragraph [0037]; monitor 12 has a processor; paragraphs [0024]) to derive one or more physiological parameters based on the sensor signals (12 maybe have a processor that measures pulse rate or blood oxygen saturation; paragraph [0024]); and
a display configured to display the one or more physiological parameters (16; paragraph [0024]);
Yamamoto teaches an optical isolated portion (optical isolator 15; paragraph [0043] Figure 1).
However, the prior art does not teach or suggest “a DC power supply ;a battery; a sensor-controller power output; and a relay that connects the DC power supply to the battery in a recharge mode and that connects the battery to the sensor-controller power output in an operational mode” in combination with the other limitations of the claim.
Conclusion
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/ABID A MUSTANSIR/ Examiner, Art Unit 3791