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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 4-6, 21-24 in the reply filed on 08/31/2026 is acknowledged.
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 4-6, 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsymbalenko (US 2022/0101518 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Tsymbalenko discloses a system comprising: an archiver configured to maintain benchmarking data for ultrasound examinations, the benchmarking data including one or more of ultrasound data generated as part of the ultrasound examinations (e.g., FIG. 2, an ultrasound system 200 is shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. The ultrasound system 200 may serve as the medical imaging device 102. As shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, the ultrasound system 200 includes an ultrasound probe 202, a processor 204, a system memory 206, a display 208, one or more external devices 210, and ultrasound components 212, paragraph 30), contextual data representing a context for the ultrasound examinations, scheduling data representing schedules for the ultrasound examinations, and reporting data representing medical reports generated for the ultrasound examinations (e.g., The transducer array 214 is in communication with the ultrasound components 212. The ultrasound components 212 connect the transducer array 214, and therefore the ultrasound probe 202, to the processor 204 via a wired or wireless connection. The processor 204 may execute computer readable program instructions stored in the system memory 206 which may cause the transducer array 214 to acquire ultrasound data, activate a subset of elements, and emit an ultrasonic beam in a particular shape, paragraph 34);
a computing device coupled to the archiver and configured to generate a benchmarking report that includes a comparison of the benchmarking data across the ultrasound examinations (e.g., In various embodiments, the processor 204 may execute various computer readable program instructions to process the ultrasound data by other different mode-related modules (i.e., B-mode, Color Doppler, M-mode, Color M-mode, spectral Doppler, Elastography, TVI, strain, strain rate, etc.) to form 2D or 3D ultrasound data. Image lines and/or volumes are stored in the system memory 206 with timing information indicating at time at which the data was acquired. The modules may include, for example, a scan conversion mode to perform scan conversion operations to convert the image volumes from beam space coordinates to display space coordinates, paragraph 40); and ….518
a display device coupled to the computing device and configured to display the benchmarking report including the comparison (e.g., The display 208 and the one or more external devices 210 are connected to and in communication with the processor 204 via an I/O interface. The one or more external devices 210 allow a user to interact with/operate the ultrasound probe 202 and/or a computer system with the processor 204, paragraph 32); 518
wherein the archiver is implemented to obtain the benchmarking data from at least two departments within a care facility, and the benchmarking report compares the at least two departments based on the benchmarking data (e.g., FIG. 4, a cloud computing environment 400 is shown in accordance with an exemplary embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, in some embodiments, the cloud computing environment 400 includes one or more nodes 402. Each node 402 may include a computer system/server (i.e., a personal computer system, a server computer system, a mainframe computer system, etc.). The nodes 402 may communicate with one another and may be grouped into one or more networks. Each node 402 may include a computer readable storage medium and a processor that executes instructions in the computer readable storage medium. As further illustrated in FIG. 4 one or more devices (or systems) 404 may be connected to the cloud computing environment 400. The one or more devices 404 may be connected to a same or different network (i.e., LAN, WAN, public network, etc.). The one or more devices 404 may include the medical imaging system 100 and the ultrasound system 200. One or more nodes 402 may communicate with the devices 404 thereby allowing the nodes 402 to provide software services to the devices 404, paragraph 42). 518
Regarding claim 5, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein the benchmarking data includes the scheduling data that indicates numbers of the ultrasound examinations performed within the at least two departments, and the comparison indicates the numbers of the ultrasound examinations (e.g., Deep learning architecture can be applied via a computer assistance detection (CAD) system to analyze DICOM images that are generated by the medical imaging system 100, the ultrasound system 200, or stored in a PACS. Particularly, the deep learning architecture can be used to analyze 2D (and/or 3D) DICOM images to identify anatomical structures (i.e., organs, tumors, blood vessels, lesions, etc.) within a 2D and/or 3D image, paragraph 48).
Regarding claim 6, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein the benchmarking data includes the scheduling data that indicates types of the ultrasound examinations performed within the at least two departments, and the comparison indicates the types of the ultrasound examinations (e.g., the processor 204 may further execute computer readable program instructions stored in the system memory 206 to further process the ultrasound data. In one embodiment, the processor 204 may process the ultrasound data into a plurality of 2D slices wherein each slice corresponds to a pulsed ultrasonic wave. In this embodiment, when the ultrasound probe 202 is moved during a scan, each slice may include a different segment of an anatomical structure. In some embodiments, the processor 204 may further process the slices to generate a 3D volume. The processor 204 may output a slice or a 3D volume to the display 208, paragraph 36).
Regarding claim 21, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein the archiver is implemented to obtain the benchmarking data including the scheduling data that indicates scheduled times for when the ultrasound examinations were scheduled to occur and actual times for when the ultrasound examinations did occur, and the comparison indicates differences between the scheduled times and the actual times (e.g., The processor 204 may further execute computer readable program instructions which cause the processor 204 to perform one or more processing operations on the ultrasound data according to a plurality of selectable ultrasound modalities. The ultrasound data may be processed in real-time during a scan as the echo signals are received. As used herein, the term “real-time” includes a procedure that is performed without any intentional delay. For example, the ultrasound probe 202 may acquire ultrasound data at a real-time rate of 7-20 volumes/second. The ultrasound probe 202 may acquire 2AD data of one or more planes at a faster rate. It is understood that real-time volume-rate is dependent on the length of time it takes to acquire a volume of data. Accordingly, when acquiring a large volume of data, the real-time volume-rate may be slower, paragraph 37).
Regarding claim 22, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein at least one of the computing device and the display device is implemented to receive a user input indicating report times, and the display device is implemented to obtain and display the benchmarking report according to the report times (e.g., the display 208 and the one or more external devices 210 are connected to and in communication with the processor 204 via an I/O interface. The one or more external devices 210 allow a user to interact with/operate the ultrasound probe 202 and/or a computer system with the processor 204, paragraph 32, figure 2).
Regarding claim 23, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein at least one of the computing device and the display device is implemented to receive a user input indicating a selection of the benchmarking data to include in the comparison included in the benchmarking report (e.g., the display 208 and the one or more external devices 210 are connected to and in communication with the processor 204 via an I/O interface. The one or more external devices 210 allow a user to interact with/operate the ultrasound probe 202 and/or a computer system with the processor 204, paragraph 32, figure 2)..
Regarding claim 24, Tsymbalenko discloses wherein at least one of the computing device and the display device is implemented to receive a user input indicating a delivery method of the benchmarking report to the display device, (e.g., The processor 204 may further execute computer readable program instructions stored in the system memory 206 to further process the ultrasound data. In one embodiment, the processor 204 may process the ultrasound data into a plurality of 2D slices wherein each slice corresponds to a pulsed ultrasonic wave. In this embodiment, when the ultrasound probe 202 is moved during a scan, each slice may include a different segment of an anatomical structure. In some embodiments, the processor 204 may further process the slices to generate a 3D volume. The processor 204 may output a slice or a 3D volume to the display 208, paragraph 36).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUANG N VO whose telephone number is (571)270-1121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7AM-4PM, EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abderrahim Merouan can be reached at 571-270-5254. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/QUANG N VO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2683
