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 .
Priority
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1
Claims 1-10 are directed to an electrocardiograph (ECG) signal enhancement method (process).
Step 2A, Prong One
Regarding claim 1, the recited steps are directed to a mathematical concept, such as a mathematical formula or equation. See MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(I). The limitation(s) of “a) resampling a collected ECG signal to obtain resampled ECG signal data; b) normalizing the resampled ECG signal data; c) extracting a location of an R-wave of a normalized ECG signal by using a Pan_Tompkin detection algorithm, dividing the normalized ECG signal into heartbeats based on m sampling points before the R-wave and n sampling points after the R-wave to obtain a heartbeat dataset U = {U1, U2, . . . , Ut, . . . , UZ}, wherein Ut represents a tth heartbeat record, t ϵ {1, 2, . . . , Z}, Z represents a quantity of the heartbeats, a length of each heartbeat record is represented by N, and each heartbeat record has 1*N dimensions; d) dividing the heartbeat dataset U into a training set Xtrain, a validation set Xval, and a test set Xtest in a ratio of a:b:c; e) establishing a GAN model comprising a generator network and a discriminator network, and inputting random noise Noisefixed into the generator network of the GAN model in batches to output a synthesized signal set Xg, wherein the random noise Noisefixed has batch*1*N dimensions; f) inputting the training set Xtrain into the discriminator network of the GAN model to obtain an output label Xtraind, and inputting the synthesized signal set Xg into the discriminator network of the GAN model to obtain an output label Xgd; g) training the generator network and the discriminator network by means of a game; and h) inputting the random noise Ng with the batch*1*N dimensions into a trained generator network to obtain an enhanced ECG signal Ug.” is/are a process that, as drafted, covers mathematical formulas or equations. For example, these limitations are nothing more than plugging numbers into an equation and outputting the resultant values.
Step 2A, Prong Two
The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, claim 1 also recites “a collected ECG signal”, and “inputting the random noise”. The collected ECG signal and inputting amount to nothing more than the pre-solution activity of data gathering and entering into a system. There are no structures provided for implementing the method steps. Merely including instructions to implement an abstract idea without a single structure does not integrate a judicial exception into practical application.
Step 2B
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of data collection and inputting amount to nothing more than mere pre-solution activity of data gathering, which does not amount to an inventive concept. The additional elements recited above are well known in the field of ECG collection. Moreover, simply appending well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, e.g., a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known to the industry, is discussed in Alice Corp., 573 U.S. at 225, 110 USPQ2d at 1984. See MPEP § 2106.05(d). In this case, elements of general computer are being used to implement the abstract idea of performing a mathematical formula or equation.
Regarding dependent claims 2-10, the limitations of claim 1 further defines the limitations already indicated as being directed to the abstract idea.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEBORAH L MALAMUD whose telephone number is (571)272-2106. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 1:00-9:30 Eastern.
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/DEBORAH L MALAMUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792
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