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 Objections
Claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 15, the recitation of “and the concurrently obtaining occur” should read as “and the concurrently obtaining force sensor data occur”, for clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 – 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Khurana et al. (US Pub. 2022/0218422 A1) / (WO2021067597), in this office action, the US publication will be relied on.
Claim 1, Khurana discloses a system for monitoring a force of an end effector of a robot on a bone in computer-assisted surgery [abstract, ¶11, claim 8, and Figs. 1 – 25], comprising:
a processing unit [processor 138 or other processors, ¶114]; and
a non-transitory computer-readable memory communicatively coupled to the processing unit [memory 140 and/or storage, ¶114] and comprising computer-readable program instructions executable by the processing unit [loaded with software, ¶114] for:
obtaining tool tracking data for an end effector of the robot arm in a frame of reference of a bone [¶111 - ¶112 and ¶118 - ¶134]; and
continuously tracking the position and orientation of the end effector in the frame of reference, using the tool tracking data [¶111 - ¶112 and ¶118 - ¶134], and
concurrently obtaining force sensor data pertaining to at least one force being applied by the end effector on the bone [¶144 - ¶153].
Khurana discloses the limitations of claim 1, as above, and further, Khurana discloses:
Claim 2, wherein the computer-readable program instructions are executable by the processing unit for operating the robot arm in an autonomous mode as a function of the at least one force [¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1].
Claim 3, wherein operating the robot arm includes controlling the robot arm to increase or decrease the at least one force [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 4, wherein operating the robot arm includes controlling the robot arm for the at least one force to remain within at least one force threshold [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 5, wherein the computer-readable program instructions are executable by the processing unit for operating a tool at the end effector as a function of the at least one force [end effector / operating tool 104/112, ¶107 - ¶109, ¶140, ¶144, and ¶149 - ¶154].
Claim 6, wherein operating the tool at the end effector includes controlling the tool at the end effector to increase or decrease the at least one force [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 7, wherein operating the robot arm includes controlling the robot arm for the at least one force to remain within at least one force threshold [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 8, wherein operating the tool at the end effector includes controlling the tool at the end effector to increase or decrease a torque applied by the tool [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 9, wherein operating the tool at the end effector includes stopping an operation of the tool at the end effector when a condition is met [¶187, ¶151, described in US Pat. 10117713 / US Pub. 2017/0000572 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶48, ¶83 of US Pub. 2017/0000572 A1].
Claim 10, wherein stopping the operation of the tool at the end effector when the condition is met includes stopping the operation when a depth of penetration has been reached [¶187, ¶151, described in US Pat. 10117713 / US Pub. 2017/0000572 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶48, ¶83 of US Pub. 2017/0000572 A1; ¶189, “intended depth … TRP”, ¶198, described in US pat. 8979859 / US Pub. 2012/0209277 A1].
Claim 11, wherein stopping the operation of the tool at the end effector when the condition is met includes stopping the operation when a resistance against the tool is at a given level [¶151, ¶187, ¶191 - ¶194, ¶221 - ¶223 and ¶248 - ¶264].
Claim 12, wherein the computer-readable program instructions are executable by the processing unit for operating a tool at the end effector according to a force profile [¶234 “threshold control 314 … change the amount of force FD detected by the sensor 180 …”, ¶151, ¶154, Autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 and ¶145 - ¶168 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1, “calculate the forces and torques necessary to move the instrument along a predefined path”].
Claim 13, wherein obtaining force sensor data includes calculating a resistance of the bone to the force applied by the end effector [¶248 - ¶264, force FD between TS and 102].
Claim 14, wherein continuously tracking the position and orientation of the end effector in the frame of reference includes calculating and outputting a depth of penetration of a tool of the end effector in the bone [¶121, ¶189, “intended depth … TRP”, ¶198, described in US pat. 8979859 / US Pub. 2012/0209277 A1].
Claim 15, wherein the continuously tracking and the concurrently obtaining occur during a reaming action by a reamer tool on the bone [¶107 - ¶108, ¶197 - ¶198, “reaming … process”, described in US pat. 8753346 / US Pub. 2011/0082462 A1].
Claim 16, wherein the computer-readable program instructions are executable by the processing unit for operating the robot arm in an collaborative mode as a function of the at least one force [¶151 - ¶152, semi-autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1].
17. The system according to claim 16, wherein operating the robot arm in the collaborative mode includes controlling the robot arm to support the end effector in a given position and orientation while an operator applies a force on the end effector and against the bone [¶151 - ¶152, semi-autonomous mode, described in US Pat. 9119655 / US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1 incorporated by reference, see ¶56 of US Pub. 2014/0039681 A1].
Claim 18, wherein operating the robot arm in the collaborative mode includes displaying the force sensor data in real time [¶114, ¶117, ¶126, ¶133, ¶136 and ¶147].
Claim 19, including the robot arm with at least one force sensor thereon, the force sensor providing the force sensor data [robotic arm 108, sensor 180, Fig. 1].
Claim 20, including an end effector supporting a tool [end effector / operating tool 104/112, ¶115].
Conclusion
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/SAMUEL S HANNA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3775