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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group II, claims 8-16 in the reply filed on April 1st, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that the examination of all claims does not place undue burden on the Examiner. This is not found persuasive because the three groups of claims each require search specific to the scope of each group which does place undue burden on the Examiner.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
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.
Claims 8-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by USPN 2021/0378756 to Calloway et al.
With regard to claim 8, Calloway discloses a method for providing a calibration for a marker-based optical tracking system, the method comprising:
providing a non-planar rigid artifact with a known geometry comprising a plurality of fiducials (Figs. 21-22 and paragraphs [0184]-[0186], Physical reference arrays are shown with fiducial markers with known geometry in order to track the physical tool attached to the array);
providing an optical sensor to be calibrated (Fig. 17 and paragraphs [0135] and [0139], [0154]-[0155], [0172]-[0173] and [0202]-[0208], Cameras in array shown in Fig. 17 are calibrated to each other as well as to the array of fiducials);
producing relative movement between the artifact and the optical sensor across a working volume (Fig. 27 and paragraphs [0200]-[0208], The artifact or reference array of fiducials is imaged in a first pose by the camera array, and then imaged in a second position);
acquiring raw positional data of each of the plurality of fiducials, using the optical sensor (Fig. 27 and paragraphs [0200]-[0208], The acquired position data of the fiducial s is used to determine calibration of the imaging system); and
determining calibration parameters of the optical tracking system based on the raw positional data and the artifact geometry (Fig. 27 and paragraphs [0200]-[0208], The acquired position data of the fiducials is used to determine calibration accuracy of the imaging system).
With regard to claim 9, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising capturing current environmental conditions and associating them with the calibration parameters (paragraphs [0058], [0064], [0069] and [0085], The environmental condition is considered the determined orientation of the tracked DRA and corresponding fiducials. Paragraph [0085]: “FIGS. 3A and 3B. The tracking subsystem 830 can be configured to determine the poses, e.g., location and angular orientation of the tracked DRAs).
With regard to claim 10, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, further comprising measuring the artifact geometry with a coordinate measurement machine (paragraphs [0046], [0058], [0136]-[0139] and [0143], The coordinate measurement system tracks the DRA or dynamic reference array).
With regard to claim 11, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the fiducials are retroreflective (paragraph [0192], “In some embodiments, the disks are either retro-reflective or colored for visible light tracking.”).
With regard to claim 12, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, wherein the fiducials are LEDs (paragraph [0084], “This tracking may be conducted in a manner consistent with the present disclosure including the use of infrared or visible light technology that tracks the location of active or passive elements of DRAs 52, such as LEDs or reflective fiducials (also called markers), respectively.”).
With regard to claim 13, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, wherein producing relative movement between the artifact and the optical sensor across a working volume comprises moving the artifact (Fig. 27 and paragraphs [0200]-[0208], The acquired position data of the fiducial s is used to determine calibration of the imaging system).
With regard to claim 14, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, wherein producing relative movement between the artifact and the optical sensor across a working volume comprises moving the optical sensor (paragraphs [0085] and [0165], the artifact or DRA attached to a surgical tool as the surgeon operates or moves the tool. See also Figs. 21-23 and 27 and paragraphs [0200]-[0208], The acquired position data of the fiducials is used to determine calibration accuracy of the imaging system).
With regard to claim 15, Calloway discloses the method of claim 9, wherein the environmental conditions comprise at least one of: an internal temperature of the optical sensor, an external temperature, an internal humidity of the optical sensor, an external humidity, an orientation, a gravitational vector, and a local acceleration vector of the optical sensor (paragraphs [0058], [0064], [0069] and [0085], The environmental condition is considered the determined orientation of the tracked DRA and corresponding fiducials. Paragraph [0085]: “FIGS. 3A and 3B. The tracking subsystem 830 can be configured to determine the poses, e.g., location and angular orientation of the tracked DRAs).
With regard to claim 16, Calloway discloses the method of claim 8, wherein producing relative movement between the artifact and the optical sensor across a working volume is performed by a machine comprising at least one of: a robot arm (paragraphs [0008], [0016] and [0047]-[0053] and Fig. 4), a spider crane robot, a cartesian robot, a drone, or a wire-driven manipulator.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WESLEY J TUCKER whose telephone number is (571)272-7427. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM Monday-Friday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JOHN VILLECCO can be reached at 571-272-7319. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WESLEY J TUCKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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