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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/5/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 4 and 16 are objected to because of the following informalities: “the amplitude” should read “an amplitude”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8-14 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20110092824 A1 to Veen et al. (hereinafter, Veen) in view of US 20090306487 A1 to Crowe et al. (hereinafter, Crowe).
Regarding Claims 1, 11-13 and 16, Veen discloses an electronic wearable device ([0001] “The invention relates to the field of light attenuation measurements, and especially to a method of and a device for monitoring a vital parameter of a patient by measuring attenuation of light emitted onto tissue…”) comprising inter alia:
a modulator (modulator 6) configured to output a first and second modulated electronic signal having a first and second carrier frequency, respectively ([0047] “…in case of TDM the light sources 1, 2 are activated alternatingly, whereas for FDM the light sources 1, 2 radiate light simultaneously but with different modulation frequencies…”) ([0047] “…light modulator 6 which acts a pulse controller and modulates the light sources 1, 2.”);
a first optical transmitter (light source 1) coupled with the first modulator, configured to output a first optical signal based on the first modulated electronic signal, the first optical signal output into the user’s skin and having the first carrier frequency ([0047] “…in case of TDM the light sources 1, 2 are activated alternatingly, whereas for FDM the light sources 1, 2 radiate light simultaneously but with different modulation frequencies…”) ([0047] “…light modulator 6 which acts a pulse controller and modulates the light sources 1, 2.”);
a second optical transmitter (light source 2) coupled with the second modulator, configured to output a second optical signal based on the second modulated electronic signal, the second optical signal output into the user’s skin and having the second carrier frequency ([0047] “…in case of TDM the light sources 1, 2 are activated alternatingly, whereas for FDM the light sources 1, 2 radiate light simultaneously but with different modulation frequencies…”) ([0047] “…light modulator 6 which acts a pulse controller and modulates the light sources 1, 2.”);
an optical receiver (light detector 4) and configured to receive the first optical signal and the second optical signal from the user’s skin as a broadband electronic signal including the first optical signal and the second optical signal associated with the first carrier frequency and the second carrier frequency, respectively ([0046] “…light which is transmitted through the finger 3 is then collected with a common light detector 4.”) ([0047] “…light detector 4 can be used to estimate the attenuation of the light from both light sources 1, 2.”), and output the broadband electronic signal (e.g., the signal prior to pre-processing) ([0048] The light detector 4 detects the light that has propagated through the medium of the finger 3 and converts it into an electrical signal.”);
an analog to digital converter (ADC 9) configured to receive the analog broadband electronic signal and output the broadband electronic signal as a stream of digital data values corresponding to the first optical signal and the second optical signal ([0048] “This signal is then pre-processed by a signal-conditioning block 8, which comprises analog amplifiers and band-pass filters, which make the signal suitable for conversion to the digital domain by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 9.”);
a memory element configured to store the first carrier frequency as corresponding to the first optical signal and the second carrier frequency as corresponding to the second optical signal (While Veen does not expressly disclose the term “memory” it would have been notoriously obvious to one having an ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed understand that a memory in the device would be absolutely necessary because it is disclosed in [0048] that the signals are converted to the digital domain, which would require a memory for the device to function and carrier the multiple signals. Therefore, a memory addition would have been extremely obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art); and
(Claims 1 and 11) a first receive processor circuit (one of correlators 10 including demodulator 11 corresponding to first modulation signal) configured to receive the broadband electronic signal including the first optical signal having the first carrier frequency and output a first photoplethysmogram (PPG) electronic signal ([0037] …he device is a pulse oximeter.”) corresponding to the first optical signal based on the first carrier frequency ([0048] “Correlators 10, each comprising a demodulator 11 and a demultiplexer 12, are used to simultaneously demodulate and demultiplex the detected light, and the results are presented to the processing unit 5, which determines the parameters of interest by evaluating the transmitted and demodulated signals. For that, the processing unit comprises an interference analyzer 14.”); and
a second receive processor circuit (a second one of correlators 10 including demodulator 11 corresponding to first modulation signal) configured to receive the broadband electronic signal including the second optical signal having the second carrier frequency and output a second PPG electronic signal ([0037] …he device is a pulse oximeter.”) corresponding to the second optical signal based on the second carrier frequency ([0048] “Correlators 10, each comprising a demodulator 11 and a demultiplexer 12, are used to simultaneously demodulate and demultiplex the detected light, and the results are presented to the processing unit 5, which determines the parameters of interest by evaluating the transmitted and demodulated signals. For that, the processing unit comprises an interference analyzer 14.”);
(Claims 12, 16) a processor (correlators 10 comprising demodulator 11 and demultiplexer 12) coupled with the analog to digital converter and the memory element, the processor configured to: receive the digital broadband electronic signal having the first carrier frequency components and the second carrier frequency components, generate a first filtered electronic signal and a second filtered electronic signal having the first carrier frequency and the second carrier frequency, respectively, demodulate the first filtered electronic signal and the second filtered electronic signal by extracting the amplitude of the first carrier frequency and the second carrier frequency, respectively, and output a first PPG electronic signal and a second PPG electronic signal corresponding to the demodulated first filtered electronic signal and the demodulated second filtered electronic signal, respectively ([0048] “The light detector 4 detects the light that has propagated through the medium of the finger 3 and converts it into an electrical signal. This signal is then pre-processed by a signal-conditioning block 8, which comprises analog amplifiers and band-pass filters, which make the signal suitable for conversion to the digital domain by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 9. Correlators 10, each comprising a demodulator 11 and a demultiplexer 12, are used to simultaneously demodulate and demultiplex the detected light, and the results are presented to the processing unit 5, which determines the parameters of interest by evaluating the transmitted and demodulated signals. For that, the processing unit comprises an interference analyzer 14.”);
(Claims 2, 17) wherein the broadband electronic signal includes the first carrier frequency and the second carrier frequency as frequency components ([0046] “…light which is transmitted through the finger 3 is then collected with a common light detector 4.”) ([0047] “…light detector 4 can be used to estimate the attenuation of the light from both light sources 1, 2.”) (e.g., prior to demultiplexing the detected light signals the light signals, prior to digital conversion, include both carrier signals);
(Claim 3) wherein the first receive processor circuit is electrically coupled with the optical receiver and includes a first filter configured to receive the broadband electronic signal, perform a band pass function based on the first carrier frequency, and output a first filtered electronic signal having the first carrier frequency (via low-pass filter 13, [0049];
(Claim 4) wherein the first receive processor circuit includes a first demodulator configured to receive the first filtered electronic signal, extract the amplitude of the first carrier frequency, and output the first PPG electronic signal (demodulator 11, [0049]);
(Claim 5) wherein the second receive processor circuit is electrically coupled with the optical receiver and includes a second band pass filter configured to receive the broadband electronic signal, perform a band pass function based on the second carrier frequency, and output a second filtered electronic signal having the second carrier frequency (e.g., for each additional light source, there are additional band-pass filters, [0049] sets forth the arrangement for a single light source, which would be multiplied to be equal the number of light sources);
(Claim 6) wherein the second receive processor circuit includes a second demodulator configured to receive the second filtered electronic signal, extract the amplitude of the second carrier frequency, and output the second PPG electronic signal (e.g., for each additional light source, there are additional demodulators, [0049] sets forth the arrangement for a single light source, which would be multiplied to be equal the number of light sources);;
(Claim 9) The electronic wearable device of claim 1, wherein the first receive processor circuit includes a first analog to digital converter configured to receive the first PPG electronic signal and output the first PPG electronic signal as a stream of digital data values that represent a PPG waveform, and wherein the second receive processor circuit includes a second analog to digital converter configured to receive the second PPG electronic signal and output the second PPG electronic signal as a stream of digital data values that represent a PPG waveform.
Veen discloses the claimed invention except for expressly disclosing (Claims 1, 11, 12, 16) where there are two modulators (e.g., rather than one modulator as set forth in Veen) configured to output first and second modulated electronic signals having first and second carrier frequencies, respectively. Veen also does not expressly disclose (Claim 1, 8, 10, 13, 14, 19, 20) a housing including a bottom wall configured to contact a user’s skin, where the first and second optical transmitters (e.g., light sources 1 and 2) and optical receiver (e.g., light detector 4) are positioned on the bottom wall.
However, (Claims 1, 11, 12, 16) Crowe teaches a reference in analogous art, one that is a photoplethysmograph device that uses multiple light sources, multiple modulators, and multiple light detectors for generation of plethysmogram signals indicative of blood volume as a function of time and/or blood composition for each of the demodulator outputs ([0030]-[0035]). Crowe specifically teaches that two modulators are used for driving the light sources such that the output intensity of each light source varies as a function of a modulation signal at a modulation frequency ([0032]). One having an ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have found it obvious to modify the single modulator of Veen to include the concept of multiple modulators of Crowe, as Crowe teaches that wavelengths modulated by multiple modulators would have allowed for selection of optical wavelengths for optimum SNG for detection of pulse and breathing rate but also allow for radiometric measures to be carried out to determine blood constituents ([0113]). Furthermore, such modification to add a second modulator to Veen would have been duplication of essential working parts, because Crowe explicitly teaches that additional wavelengths are implemented by adding additional drivers ([0113]) - each driver provides the same modulated drive function as the original driver.
Additionally, (Claim 1, 8, 10, 13, 14, 19, 20) Crowne teaches a housing including a bottom wall (substrate 701, FIGS. 6-7) capable of contact the user’s skin, where the bottom wall has a plurality of optical transmitters (light emitting devices 702) and an optical receiver (photodiode 704) ([0142]) each at different locations on the bottom wall. One having an ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed would have found it obvious to modify the transmitter and receiver of Veen to be arranged on the bottom wall, each at different locations, as suggested Crowne, as Crowne teaches at [0057] this would have allowed the elements to be disposed adjacent to one another so they can be directed substantially to the same point on the same surface of the target body. A skilled artisan would have recognized that such modification would be advantageous to provide a more compact, co-mounted structure, and would have been a practical, integrated implementation of the optical components.
Claim(s) 7, 15 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Veen in view of Crowne as applied to claims 1, 11 or 16 above, and further in view of CN 107980208 A (hereinafter, ‘208)
Veen in view of Crowne disclose wherein the first optical transmitter and the second optical transmitter are each a light-emitting diode (LED) (Veen [0006] “…light emitting diodes…”), and wherein the optical receiver is a photodiode (Veen [0048] “…light detector 4 detects the light… and converts it into an electrical signal.”) (Crowne “photodiode 704”). Veen does not expressly disclose where the first and second modulator each include a transconductance amplifier. However, ’208 teaches that a skilled artisan would have recognized that the use of a transconductance amplifier would have improved signal to noise ratio (see translated paragraphs of ‘208).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN PATRICK DOUGHERTY whose telephone number is (571)270-5044. The examiner can normally be reached 8am-5pm (Pacific Time).
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, Jacqueline Cheng can be reached at (571)272-5596. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SEAN P DOUGHERTY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3791