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 .
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.
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) 1-3, 5, 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al (KR 2014-0063192 A) in view of Fontanesi et al (US 20130323166 A1) and Kim et al (KR 2020-0065477 A).
Regarding claim 1, Lee et al discloses a low-dose radiation treatment system (10) for neurodegenerative diseases or chronic inflammation of human body treatment (i.e. cancer, medical diseases, skin diseases) (page 5) based on a photon energy level, comprising: a low-dose radiation therapy device (page 10) wherein a treatment bed (101) (page 9) where a patient receives treatment while lying down is formed on a device body and sources (17) are installed around the inner periphery of a ring-shaped gate (14) of the device body to form a radiation gantry so that therapeutic radiation is irradiated toward the patient's body (pages 3, 6) and a controller (102); wherein the sources are installed around the inner periphery of the radiation gantry, and the sources are distributed in a 100 to 300 kVp range (160 kVp) (paragraph [0055]). Lee et al is silent with regards to plurality of carbon nanotube sources and a controller driving the treatment bed as claimed. Fontanesi et al discloses a radiation therapy for treating Alzheimer’s disease comprising: carbon radiation sources (paragraph [0041]). Kim et al disclose a device for radiophotography and radiotherapy comprising: a controller configured to check a patient's condition using entered patient information, to set a treatment direction and to perform radiation therapy by driving the treatment bed (treatment table) (30) (page 3) such that a patient is positioned at an optimal treatment position and by controlling the operation of the low- dose radiation therapy device (page 9, Section: Configuration of control device). Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee et al of a low-dose radiation treatment system (10) for neurodegenerative diseases or chronic inflammation of human body treatment (i.e. cancer, medical diseases, skin diseases) with Fontanesi et al of carbon radiation sources. A person or ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this to align the specific radiation band with the exact target area on the patient’s body for their specific disease.
Regarding claim 2, Lee et al discloses wherein the controller (102) controls a preset dose, energy intensity and a beam irradiation range and angle depending upon a patient's disease type (i.e. The control unit 102 controls the driving of the fixing means 112 and the rotation driving means 113 of the body portion 11 and the driving of the first ring type gantry 14 and the second ring type gantry 16 The driving and fixing means 112 and the rotation driving means 113 of the body portion 11 are controlled in accordance with the dose planning which is input in advance or by controlling the diagnostic radiation emitting direction and intensity of the moving and diagnostic radiation emitting unit 17, The position, the angle, the direction, the output, and the beamforming of the therapeutic radiation unit 15 and the diagnostic radiation emitting unit 17, respectively) (page 9).
Regarding claim 3, Lee et al discloses wherein a plurality of sources are arranged in the radiation gantry the inner periphery, the sources are distributed along the arc radius, and each of the sources emits a radiation beam toward a concentric center of an arc (See Abstract and page 6). Fontanesi et al discloses a radiation therapy for treating Alzheimer’s disease comprising: carbon radiation sources as stated supra (paragraph [0041]). Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee et al of a low-dose radiation treatment system (10) for neurodegenerative diseases or chronic inflammation of human body treatment (i.e. cancer, medical diseases, skin diseases) with Fontanesi et al of carbon radiation sources. A person or ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this to align the specific radiation band with the exact target area on the patient’s body for their specific disease.
Regarding claim 5, Lee et al discloses wherein the plural sources (13, 15a, 15b) emit radiation beams sequentially or alternately (See Fig. 4 and page 4). Fontanesi et al discloses a radiation therapy for treating Alzheimer’s disease comprising: carbon radiation sources as stated supra (paragraph [0041]). Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee et al of a low-dose radiation treatment system (10) for neurodegenerative diseases or chronic inflammation of human body treatment (i.e. cancer, medical diseases, skin diseases) with Fontanesi et al of carbon radiation sources. A person or ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this to align the specific radiation band with the exact target area on the patient’s body for their specific disease.
Regarding claim 7, Lee et al discloses wherein the low-dose radiation therapy device (10) (See Figs. 3, 4) comprises: a treatment bed (101) (page 9) where a patient lies down and receives treatment; a device body where the treatment bed is installed to reciprocate in a longitudinal direction; and a radiation gantry (12) installed in an inner periphery direction of the gate such that therapeutic radiation is irradiated toward patient's body, wherein a ring-shaped (14) gate is formed on an upper side of the device body so that the bed passes through a center thereof (See Figs. 3, 4).
Regarding claim 8, Lee et al discloses further comprising a rotator for rotating the radiation gantry around the patient's body to change a radiation irradiation position (pages 3, 5).
Regarding claim 9, Lee et al discloses wherein sources are arranged in multiple rows around the inner periphery of the gate of the radiation gantry, wherein the source arrays (13, 15a, 15b) operate alternatively (See Fig. 4 and page 4).
Claim(s) 4, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al (KR 2014-0063192 A) in view of Fontanesi et al (US 20130323166 A1) and Kim et al (KR 2020-0065477 A), as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Chung et al (KR 2023-0061121 A).
Regarding claim 4, Lee et al, Fontanesi et al and Kim et al disclose all of the limitations of claim 3, as described supra however, Lee et al, Fontanesi et al and Kim et al are silent with regards to the radiation gantry emit dose as claimed. Chung et al discloses a low dose ionized radiation therapy apparatus, comprising radiation gantry emits a dose of 10 to 100 cGy/min (10-100 Mu/min) (page 9) to the installed carbon nanotube (CNTs), and controller (400) enable a preset dose to be irradiated depending upon a patient’s disease type (page 9). Thus, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Lee et al and Fontanesi et al of a low-dose radiation treatment system (10) for neurodegenerative diseases or chronic inflammation of human body treatment (i.e. cancer, medical diseases, skin diseases) and of carbon radiation sources with Chung et al of radiation gantry emitting a dose of 10 to 100 cGy/min. A person or ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do this to align the specific radiation band with the exact target area on the patient’s body for their specific disease.
Regarding claim 6, Lee et al in view of Fontanesi et al, Kim et al and Chung et al discloses wherein the radiation beam energy irradiates from the radiation gantry is at a pulsed beam energy of 100 ~ 300 kVP (page 9) and 3mA with radiation time set to 1 minute or less.
Conclusion
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/F.P.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2884
/UZMA ALAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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