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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 5/21/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1 and 3-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fraschini (US 2020/0256988 A1) and Ceroici (2019, IEEE Trans. on Ultrasonics).
Regarding claim 1, Fraschini teaches a method of acquiring an image of a body by means of a row-column addressed matrix ultrasonic imaging device, the device comprising an array of elementary ultrasonic transducers connected in rows and columns by respectively row electrodes and column electrodes, the method comprising:
performing N successive shots of the same ultrasonic wave towards said body, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2 [[fig. 4] shows M transmissions of waves #201; [0100] a transmission step in which a first plurality of waves are transmitted by the transducers inside the region of the medium; [0120] number of the transmitted waves may be comprised for instant between 2 and 100];
after each shot, implementing a reception phase, by means of said device, of a return ultrasonic wave reflected by said body, in which, during each of the reception phases [[fig. 4] shows M receptions #202 following transmission #201; [0100] a reception step (102; 202) in which a set of data is acquired by said transducers in response to the waves], a variable electrical quantity representative of the received wave is read [[0091] analog/digital converters individually connected to the L transducers of the transducer array].
Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches a variable electrical quantity representative of the received wave is read at each row electrode of the device [[pg. 1095, col. 1] typically, an N × N sized array will use N bias sequences, and therefore, N transmit events.], and in which, between any two of the N reception phases, a sign of an individual contribution of at least one elementary ultrasonic transducer of the array is modified [note: instant para. 0010 explains that signs of the polarization voltages applied respectively to the device's column electrodes during the N reception phases are coded by the vectors of an orthogonal matrix, for example a Hadamard matrix.; [abstract] FORCES imaging scheme involves transmitting along rows to form an elevational transmit focus, while biasing columns with bias patterns selected from a Hadamard matrix]; and
calculating, by means of an electronic processing device [[pg. 1101, col. 2] ultrasonic imaging and therapeutic applications and all of the associated electronic hardware required to drive capture and process the ultrasonic signals], by linear combinations of the electrical variable quantities read on the row electrodes of the device during the N reception phases, of an individual contribution of each of the elementary ultrasonic transducers of the array [[pg. 1095, col. 2] FORCES imaging sequences consisted of applying the appropriate Hadamard bias pattern to column channels, transmitting delayed pulses to row channels and repeating for all Hadamard patterns. The FORCES images are reconstructed offline using a custom Hadamard decoding and synthetic-aperture delay-and-sum script, and Scheme 1 images are reconstructed using a custom delay-and-sum script],
wherein the calculation of the individual contributions of the elementary ultrasonic transducers of the array comprises a multiplication of the electrical variable quantities read on the row electrodes of the device during the N reception phases by coefficients of a matrix A, previously determined during a characterization or simulation phase and stored in a memory of the electronic processing device [[pg. 1094, col. 1-2 bridging] FORCES imaging scheme, shown in Fig. 1(c), transmits an electronically focused beam across rows but applies a set of encoded bias patterns along receiving columns. These patterns are obtained from the rows of a Hadamard matrix. Once the data set is obtained using all of the encoded bias patterns, the data set can then be decoded by multiplying the data set by the inverse of the Hadamard matrix],
wherein for each of the elementary ultrasonic transducers of the array, the coefficients of the matrix A represent respective weights of the individual contributions to the variable electrical quantity generated on each row electrode and on each column electrode of the array during the reception phases [[abstract] FORCES imaging scheme involves transmitting along rows to form an elevational transmit focus, while biasing columns with bias patterns selected from a Hadamard matrix. Channel data from columns is received and decoded for synthetic-aperture beamforming in azimuth. This scheme offers two-way azimuthal focusing.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 3, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 1, wherein, during each of the N receiving phases. each column electrode of the array is maintained at a DC bias voltage, and wherein, between any two of the N receiving phases, the sign of the DC bias voltage applied to at least one of the device's column electrodes is changed [[abstract] FORCES imaging scheme involves transmitting along rows to form an elevational transmit focus, while biasing columns with bias patterns selected from a Hadamard matrix; [pg. 1095, col. 1] each column electrode has either a positive or negative bias depending on the Hadamard vector, while all row electrodes are grounded. … [t]his technique relies on the ability to shift the phase of the transmitted waveform and received signals by 180° by reversing the applied bias.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 4, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the signs of the polarization voltages applied respectively to the column electrodes of the device during the N reception phases are coded by the vectors of an orthogonal matrix, for example a Hadamard matrix [[abstract] FORCES imaging scheme involves transmitting along rows to form an elevational transmit focus, while biasing columns with bias patterns selected from a Hadamard matrix; [pg. 1095, col. 1] each column electrode has either a positive or negative bias depending on the Hadamard vector, while all row electrodes are grounded. … [t]his technique relies on the ability to shift the phase of the transmitted waveform and received signals by 180° by reversing the applied bias].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 5, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the N successive shots are performed by means of said row-column-addressed matrix ultrasonic imaging device [[abstract] here, experimental results are reported for the fast orthogonal row–column electronic scanning (FORCES) imaging scheme], and wherein, during each of the N shots, each column electrode of the array is held at a DC bias voltage [[pg. 1094, col. 2] to compare our proposed 3-D imaging scheme (FORCES) with pyramidal scanning (Scheme 1), we keep all the array and channel parameters the same, use the same transmit voltage and bias voltage levels, as well as include an averaged Scheme 1 case with an equivalent number of transmit events], and wherein, during each shot, the signs of the DC bias voltages applied respectively to the column electrodes of the array are the same as the signs of the DC bias voltages applied respectively to the column electrodes in the subsequent receiving phase [[pg. 1095, col. 1] each column electrode has either a positive or negative bias depending on the Hadamard vector, while all row electrodes are grounded. … [t]his technique relies on the ability to shift the phase of the transmitted waveform and received signals by 180° by reversing the applied bias.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 6, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 1, wherein, between any two of the N receiving phases, the electrical connection of at least one elementary transducer between the row and column electrodes is reversed by means of a system of switches [[pg. 1095, col. 2] bias control was conducted using a microcontroller connected with a set of relays switching between +55-/−55-V biases.], so as to modify the sign of the individual contribution of said at least one elementary ultrasonic transducer of the array [[pg. 1095, col. 1] each column electrode has either a positive or negative bias depending on the Hadamard vector, while all row electrodes are grounded. … [t]his technique relies on the ability to shift the phase of the transmitted waveform and received signals by 180° by reversing the applied bias.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 7, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducers are CMUT Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers or PMUT transducers Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers [[pg. 1101, col. 2] focus on the fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers for medical imaging applications.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the capacitive micromachined transducer as taught by Ceroici because CMUTs can be used for medical imaging applications (Ceroici) [[pg. 1101, col. 2]].
Regarding claim 8, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the method of claim 1, wherein said array comprises N rows and N columns of elementary ultrasonic transducers [[abstract] elements in 2-D array transducers … row column addressing].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 9, Frashini teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the electrical variable quantity read on each row electrode of the device is a voltage value [[0091] analog/digital converters 5 (A/D1-A/DL) individually connected to the L transducers (T1-TL) of the transducer array 2].
Regarding claim 10, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches a row-column addressed matrix ultrasonic imaging device, the device comprising a array of elementary ultrasonic transducers connected in rows and columns by respective row electrodes and column electrodes [[pg. 1093, col. 1] top-orthogonal-to-bottom electrode (TOBE) arrays consist of bias-sensitive transducers with top electrodes connected along rows and bottom electrodes along columns. These arrays have been shown to have several advantages over fully connected 2-D arrays], and a control circuit configured to implement a method according claim 1 [[pg. 1095, col. 2] bias control was conducted using a microcontroller connected with a set of relays switching between +55-/−55-V biases.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the row and column biasing using a Hadamard matrix as taught by Ceroici because TOBE array architecture and FORCES imaging scheme thus enable high-quality 3-D ultrasound imaging using only row–column addressing and bias control and may prove an enabling technology for many future 3-D imaging platforms (Ceroici) [[abstract]].
Regarding claim 11, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet Ceroici teaches the device of claim 10, wherein the ultrasonic transducers are CMUT Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers or PMUT transducers Piezoelectric Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers [[pg. 1101, col. 2] focus on the fabrication of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducers for medical imaging applications.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to implement the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the capacitive micromachined transducer as taught by Ceroici because CMUTs can be used for medical imaging applications (Ceroici) [[pg. 1101, col. 2]].
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fraschini (US 2020/0256988 A1) and Ceroici (2019, IEEE Trans. on Ultrasonics) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of O’Donnell (US 5,453,575 A).
Regarding claim 12, Fraschini does not explicitly teach and yet O’Donnell teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the coefficients of the matrix A are non-zero and non-unitary coefficients, in absolute value [[col. 25:10-30] by alternatingly adding and subtracting signal values, the DSA 110 effectively modulates the input signal values by a plus or minus one value equivalent to a bi-polar square wave (illustratively depicted in FIG. 8a). However, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, the signal processor 30, in addition to performing a sequence of addition and subtraction on a set of J signal samples for an image region (in accordance with a specified M value), modulates the magnitude of ones of the set of J signal samples by applying a sequence of non-unitary coefficients to the set of J signal samples.].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to combine the transducer array as taught by Fraschini, with the non unitary coefficients as taught by O’Donnell because balanced coefficients result in the attenuation of the portions of the combined signal samples attributable to echo signals caused by stationary features (e.g., tissue) in an image region. (O’Donnell) [[col. 25:40-60]].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7339. The examiner can normally be reached M - F 9am-5pm.
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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