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 .
Claims 16 & 19, 21, 22 are canceled.
Claims 23 & 24 are added.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The end of the claim states: “The encoder and the driver are integrated into the first capacitor.”
However, Figure 4A of the 3/25/2024 drawings show the first capacitor, 430-1 & 430-2 as discrete from the driver/encoder. If this drawing is accurate, it
would be better to change the claim language to say “encoder/decoder is integrated around the first capacitor.” It does not appear that the encoder/decoder is actually integrated into the first capacitor.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7, 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A).
Regarding claim 1
Riehl discloses
A magnetic resonance (MRI) system (¶ 1 under 2. Discussion of the Related
Art), comprising:
a storage device including a set of instructions (¶7 under Summary);
and at least one processor in communication with the storage device (¶ 4 under Summary), wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one
processor is configured to direct the system to perform operations including:
obtaining, via a contactless signal transmitter of a data transmission device,
one or more magnetic resonance (MR) signals wherein the MRI signals are
collected by and obtained from a radio frequency (RF) coil device of an MR device (¶11 & 12 under Detailed Description, the coil gets MRI signal data and transmits it wirelessly), the contactless signal transmitter is coupled to the RF coil device (Fig. 2, Ref 206, ¶ 9 & 10 under Detailed Description);
transmitting, via a wireless communication between the contactless signal
transmitter and a contactless signal receiver of the data transmission device, the MR signals collected by the RF coil device to the contactless signal receiver (¶ 2 below “Summary”).
Riehl does not disclose
“RF signals are imaging data generated due to nuclear spins inside a target excited by radio frequency (RF) pulses and collected by and obtained from a radio frequency (RF) an RF coil device of an MR device, and the contactless signal transmitter is coupled to the RF coil device;
And
Data used for image reconstruction.”
Fuhu, however, teaches
RF signals are imaging data generated due to nuclear spins inside a target excited by radio frequency (RF) pulses and collected by and obtained from a radio frequency (RF) an RF coil device of an MR device, and the contactless signal
transmitter is coupled to the RF coil device (¶ 1—20 under DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS);
And
Data used for image reconstruction (¶ 7 under DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “wireless data transmission facility from nuclear spins as well as image reconstruction ability” as taught by Fuhu in the system of Riehl.
The justification for this modification would be to have a wireless way to transmit the MRI data and to use this data for image reconstruction.
Regarding claim 4
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
Riehl, applied to claim 4, further teaches
wherein the wireless communication is implemented by one of an optical field, an electrical field, and a magnetic field between the contactless signal
transmitter and the contactless signal receiver (¶ 7 under Detailed Description, the implementation is wireless with an EM field).
Regarding claim 7
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
Riehl, applied to claim 7, further teaches
the contactless signal transmitter includes a data transmitting coil (¶ 3 - 5
under “Summary”):
the contactless signal receiver includes a data receiving coil (¶ 3 – 5 under
“Summary”); and
the magnetic field is generated between the data transmitting coil and the
data receiving coil (T 5 under "Summary").
Regarding claim 9
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
further comprising a pick-up coil, wherein
Riehl, applied to claim 9, further teaches
the pick-up coil is coupled to the RF coil device and the contactless signal
transmitter (¶ 1- 4, under Summary), the pick-up coil is configured to receive the one or more MR signals from the RF coil device and transmit the one or more MR signals to the contactless signal transmitter (¶ 1 – 4, under Summary).
Regarding claim 10
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 9
Riehl, applied to claim 10, further teaches wherein
the one or more MR signals are transmitted from the RF coil device to the
pick-up coil via a magnetic field between the pick-up coil and the RF coil device (¶ 57 under “Summary”), and
the one or more MR signals are transmitted from the pick-up coil to the
contactless signal transmitter via a wired connection between the pick-up coil and the contactless signal transmitter (15-7 under "Summary").
Claim(s) 2, 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Anderson (US-20150087966-A1).
Regarding claim 2
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not teach
“wherein the contactless signal transmitter is disposed in the RF coil device
or arranged on a surface of the RF coil device”.
Anderson, however, teaches wherein the contactless signal transmitter is
disposed in the RF coil device or arranged on a surface of the RF coil device (Claim 20).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the "wireless/contactless
transmitter disposed in the coil device" as taught by Anderson in the system of Riehl in view of Fuhu.
The justification for this modification would be to have an RF coil with a
built-in transmitter for quick convenience to transmit the detected signal.
Regarding claim 3
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not teach
“wherein the contactless signal receiver is disposed in a couch, or arranged
on a surface of the couch, or within a bore of the MR device”.
Anderson, however, teaches
wherein the contactless signal receiver is disposed in a couch, or arranged on
a surface of the couch, or within a bore of the MR device (Fig. 1, Ref 19, 18, 51, 52, [0002] - [0012], the wireless receiver coils are incorporated into a “restraining belt”, [0007] which is inside the bore of the MRI machine).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “wireless receiver inside the MRI bore” as taught by Anderson in the system of Riehl.
The justification for this modification would be to have a
receiver/transceiver that can receive and send signals without the complications of hard wiring.
Claim(s) 12, 13, 14, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Anderson (US-20150087966-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A).
Regarding claim 12
Riehl discloses
A data transmission device (¶ 1 under 2. Discussion of the Related Art),
comprising:
a contactless signal transmitter configured to transmit one or more magnetic
resonance (MR) signals to a contactless signal receiver via a wireless
communication between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver (¶ 11 & 12 under Detailed Description, the coil gets MRI signal data and transmits it wirelessly), the one or more MR signals being collected by a radio frequency (RF) coil device of an MR device; and
the contactless signal receiver configured to receive the one or more MR
signals from the contactless signal transmitter (¶ 2 below "Summary").
Riehl does not teach
“the pick-up coil is configured to receive the one or more MR signals from
the RF coil device and transmit the one or more MR signals to the data transmitting coils”.
Anderson, however, teaches
the pick-up coil is configured to receive the one or more MR signals from
the RF coil device and transmit the one or more MR signals to the data transmitting coil (Fig. 1, Ref 18, 52, 54, [0011] – [0015] & [0055]).
Riehl in view of Anderson do not teach
“MR data generated by nuclear spins”
And
For use in image reconstruction.”
Fuhu, however, teaches
MR data generated by nuclear spins (¶ 1 above “Claims”)
And
For use in image reconstruction (¶ 7 under DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “wireless transceivers from coil device transmitting one of more MRI signals” as taught by Anderson in the device of Riehl as well as the “MR data generated by nuclear spins for use in image reconstruction” as taught by Fuhu.
The justification for this modification would be to have a wireless way to
transmit data so as to avoid wires and use the MRI data for image reconstruction.
Regarding claim 13
Riehl in view of Anderson in view of Fuhu teach the data transmission device of claim 12,
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not disclose
“Wherein the contactless signal transmitter is disposed in the RF coil device
or arranged on a surface of the RF coil device, and the contactless signal receiver is disposed in a couch, or arranged on a surface of the couch, or within a bore of the MR device”.
Anderson applied to claim 13 further teaches
Wherein the contactless signal transmitter is disposed in the RF coil device
or arranged on a surface of the RF coil device (Claim 20), and the contactless signal receiver is disposed in a couch, or arranged on a surface of the couch, or within a bore of the MR device (Fig. 1, Ref 19, 18, 51, 52, [0002] [0012], the wireless receiver coils are incorporated into a “restraining belt”, [0007] which is inside the bore of the MRI machine).
Regarding claim 14
Riehl in view of Anderson in view of Fuhu teach the data transmission device of claim 12,
Riehl, applied to claim 14, further teaches wherein the wireless
communication is implemented by one of an optical field, an electrical field, or a magnetic field between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver (¶ 7 under Detailed Description).
Regarding claim 15
Riehl in view of Anderson in view of Fuhu teach the data transmission device of claim 12,
Riehl, applied to claim 15, further teaches
Wherein the contactless signal transmitter includes a data transmitting coil:
the contactless signal receiver includes a data receiving coil; and the data is
wirelessly transmitted from the contactless signal transmitter to the contactless signal via a magnetic field generated between the data transmitting coil and the data receiving coil (¶ 1 – 7 under Detailed Description).
Claim(s) 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Hsieh (FR-2802686-A1).
Regarding claim 5
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 1,
Riehl, applied to claim 5 further teaches
wherein the wireless communication is implemented by an electrical field
between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver (¶ 7 under Detailed Description);
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not disclose
“the contactless signal transmitter includes a first capacitor coupled with an
encoder and a driver: the contactless signal receiver includes a second capacitor coupled with a comparator and a decoder; and
the electrical field is generated between the first capacitor and the second
capacitor”.
Hsieh, however, teaches
the contactless signal transmitter includes a first capacitor coupled with an
encoder and a driver (Claims):
the contactless signal receiver includes a second capacitor coupled with a
comparator and a decoder (Claims); and
the electrical field is generated between the first capacitor and the second
capacitor (Claims. Capacitors store energy in electric fields).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “comparator with
capacitors and decoder” as taught by Hsieh in the device of Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Hsieh.
The justification for this modification would be to be able to digitize the MRI data.
Claim(s) 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Hsieh (FR-2802686-A1) in view of Cao (CN-106506049-A).
Regarding claim 23
Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Hsieh teach the system of claim 5,
Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Hsieh do not teach
“wherein the encoder is configured to convert the one or more MR signals to binary data;
the driver is configured to generate one or more waveform signals corresponding to the binary data and transmit the one or more waveform signals to the first capacitor; and
the encoder and the driver are integrated into the first capacitor”.
Cao, however, teaches
wherein the encoder is configured to convert the one or more MR signals to binary data;
the driver is configured to generate one or more waveform signals corresponding to the binary data and transmit the one or more waveform signals to the first capacitor; and
the encoder and the driver are integrated into the first capacitor (Figure 3, ¶ 1 under Preferred Embodiment).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “binary data facility” as taught by Cao in the system of Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Hsieh.
The justification for this modification would be to have a digital facility to process the MRI signals.
Claim(s) 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Chai (CN-202866883-U).
Regarding claim 6
Riehl in view of Fuhu teaches the system of claim 1,
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not disclose “wherein the wireless communication is implemented by an optical field between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver;
the contactless signal transmitter includes a light emitting element operably
coupled with an electro-optical converter and one or more lenses
the contactless signal receiver includes a light receiving element operably
coupled with a fiber bundle and an optical-electrical converter; and the optical field
is generated between the one or more lenses and the fiber bundle”.
Chai, however, teaches the wireless communication is implemented by an
optical field between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver the contactless signal transmitter includes a light emitting element operably coupled with an electro-optical converter and one or more lenses;
the contactless signal receiver includes a light receiving element operably
coupled with a fiber bundle and an optical-electrical converter; and
the optical field is generated between the one or more lenses and the fiber
bundle (Abstract & [0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “optical connection” as taught by Chai in the device of Riehl.
The justification for this modification would be to be able to transmit the
MRI data optically as well as with conventional WIFI.
Claim(s) 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of
Katsushiro (JP-2017076653-A).
Regarding claim 8
Riehl discloses the system of claim 7,
Riehl does not disclose
“wherein a diameter of the data transmitting coil is equal to or smaller than
1/3 of a diameter of a coil unit of the RF coil device”.
Katsushiro, however, teaches
wherein a diameter of the data transmitting coil is equal to or smaller than
1/3 of a diameter of a coil unit of the RF coil device (¶ 21 under DESCRIPTION-OF-EMBODIMENTS)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “similar coil sizes” as taught by Katsushiro in the device of Riehl.
The justification for this modification would be to have power transmission
efficiency.
Claim(s) 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Kim (KR-200338892-Y1).
Regarding claim 11
Riehl in view of Fuhu teach the system of claim 10,
Riehl in view of Fuhu do not teach
“wherein the pick-up coil and the contactless signal transmitter are
integrated into a device that is detachably mounted on the RF coil device”.
Kim, however, teaches
wherein the pick-up coil and the contactless signal transmitter are integrated
into a device that is detachably mounted on the RF coil device (¶ 2 under TECH-SOLUTION).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “detachable coil” as taught by Kim in the device of Riehl in view of Fuhu.
The justification for this modification would be for ease of maintenance- i.e.,
removing a part of the transceiver that is more complicated and needs repair
without removing the “docking portion” of it.
Claim(s) 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Kim (KR-200338892-Y1) in view of Son (KR-20150077122-A).
Regarding claim 24
Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Kim teach the system of claim 11,
Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Kim do not teach
“wherein the device includes a flexible support component disposed on the RF coil device, and the pick-up coil and the contactless signal transmitter are disposed on or within the flexible support component”.
Son, however, teaches
wherein the device includes a flexible support component disposed on the RF coil device, and the pick-up coil and the contactless signal transmitter are disposed on or within the flexible support component (ABSTRACT).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “RF transmitter inside a flexible element” as taught by Son in the system of Riehl in view of Fuhu in view of Kim.
The justification for this modification would be to fit the RF transmitter to multiple differ contours to achieve a high SNR.
Claim(s) 17 - 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
over Anderson (US-20150087966-A1) in view of Bennett (US- 8093900-B2) in view of Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A).
Regarding claim 17
Anderson discloses
A data transmission device ([0014]), comprising:
a contactless signal transmitter configured to transmit data transformed from
one or more magnetic resonance (MR) signals to a contactless signal receiver, the one or more MR signals being collected by a radio frequency (RF) coil device of an MR device (Claim 20); and
Wherein the contactless signal transmitter is disposed in the RF coil device
or arranged on a surface of the RF coil device (Claim 20), and the contactless signal receiver is disposed in a couch, or arranged on a surface of the
couch, or within a bore of the MR device (Fig. 1, Ref 19, 18, 51, 52, [0002] - [0012], the wireless receiver coils are incorporated into a “restraining belt”, [0007] which is inside the bore of the MRI machine).
Anderson does not disclose “the contactless signal receiver configured to
receive the data from the contactless signal transmitter and transmit the data to a signal resolver for restoring the one or more magnetic resonance (MR) signals
from the data”.
Bennet, however, teaches
the contactless signal receiver configured to receive the data from the
contactless signal transmitter and transmit the data to a signal resolver for restoring the one or more magnetic resonance (MR) signals from the data (Claim 1, the wireless receiver receives MRI calibration data, converts it digitally, compares to a desired value, then adjusts the MRI machine accordingly).
Anderson in view of Bennett do not explicitly teach
“MR signals being imaging data generated due to nuclear spins inside a target excited by radio frequency (RF) pulses and collected by a radio frequency (RF) an RF coil device of an MR device;
And
Using the data in image reconstruction”
Fuhu, however, teaches
MR signals being imaging data generated due to nuclear spins inside a target excited by radio frequency (RF) pulses and collected by a radio frequency (RF) an RF coil device of an MR device (¶ 1 under Drawing Description);
And
Using the data in image reconstruction (¶ 7 under Description Of Embodiments).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “the contactless
receiver with the additional signal resolver for data restoration” as taught by
Bennet in the device of Anderson.
The justification for this modification would be to 1) receive MRI data from nuclear spins and use this for image reconstruction, and 2) to have a feedback mechanism to re-calibrate the MRI machine.
Regarding claim 18
Anderson in view of Bennet in view of Fuhu teach the data transmission device of claim 17, further comprising:
Anderson, applied to claim 18, further teaches a data converter coupled to
the RF coil device and the contactless signal transmitter, the data converter being configured to convert the MR signals into the data ([0028]).
Claim(s) 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Anderson (US-20150087966-A1) in view of Bennett (US-8093900-B2) in Fuhu (JP-2017205558-A) in view of Riehl (DE-102016203614-A1).
Regarding claim 20
Anderson in view of Bennet in view of Fuhu teach the data transmission device of claim 17,
Although strongly implied, Anderson in view of Bennett in view of Fuhu do not explicitly teach
“wherein the data is wirelessly transmitted from the contactless signal
transmitter to the contactless signal receiver via one of an optical field, an
electrical field, or a magnetic field between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver”
Riehl, however, teaches
wherein the data is wirelessly transmitted from the contactless signal
transmitter to the contactless signal receiver via one of an optical field, an
electrical field, or a magnetic field between the contactless signal transmitter and the contactless signal receiver (¶ 7 under Detailed Description).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the “signal transceiver using an electrical/magnetic field for transmission” as taught by Riehl in the device of Anderson in view of Bennet.
The justification for this modification would be to wireless medium to
transmit the data over.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from
the examiner should be directed to FREDERICK WENDEROTH whose telephone number is (571)270-1945. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the
examiner's supervisor, Walter Lindsay can be reached at 571-272-1674. The fax
phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned
is 571-273-8300.
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/Frederick Wenderoth/
Examiner, Art Unit 2852
/WALTER L LINDSAY JR/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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