DETAILED ACTION
A complete action on the merits of claims 1-21 follows below.
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 .
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 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.
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 1-4, 7-16 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Curran (US Pub. No. 2019/0117113).
Regarding Claim 1, Curran teaches a system comprising:
Memory 50 ([0036]); processing circuitry configured to: modulate a carrier signal to generate a modulated signal that carries a message for transmission by a first electrode of a catheter; receive an indication of the modulated signal received by a second electrode of the catheter; demodulate the modulated signal received by the second electrode to extract a demodulated message; and determine whether the first electrode contacts a target tissue site of a patient based at least in part on the demodulated message ([0007]-[0008], [0010], [0038]-[0041], [0043], [0049] and [0067] and Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 2, Curran teaches wherein the modulated signal comprises an ablation signal (an ablation generator applies the ablation signal to tissue, see [0030]-[0032]).
Regarding Claim 3, Curran teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: output an indication of whether the first electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient ([0010], [0056] and [0067]).
Regarding Claim 4, Curran teaches wherein the target tissue site of the patient is on at least one of: an organ tissue, an arterial wall, or a venous wall of the patient (the heart being an organ tissue, Fig. 7 and [0056]).
Regarding Claim 7, Curran teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: modulate a second carrier signal to generate a second modulated signal that carries a second message for transmission by the second electrode; receive an indication of the second modulated signal received by the first electrode of the catheter; demodulate the second modulated signal received by the first electrode to extract a second demodulated message; and demodulate whether the second electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient based at least in part on the second demodulated message (either of the electrodes can reasonable be interpreted as a first electrode and a second electrode in view of Curran teaching “The signal generator 46 may be configured to generate (e.g., among other signals), a drive signal or excitation signal across the electrodes A, B (i.e., using one electrode as a source and the other as a sink)” in [0035] and “generating a plurality of drive signals. Each of the drive signals may have a modulation frequency that is a harmonic of a common base frequency. The drive signals may each be simultaneously applied across an individual pair of electrodes of the medical device. The method may further include measuring a composite response signal of the plurality of drive signals applied to the plurality of individual pairs of electrodes. The composite response signal may be synchronously demodulated for each unique modulation frequency. Once demodulated, impedance values may be output for each electrode and/or each individual pair of electrodes” [0010], also see [0007]-[0008], [0038]-[0041], [0043], [0049] and [0067] and Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 8, Curran teaches wherein the carrier signal has a first carrier frequency and the second carrier signal has a second carrier frequency that is the same as the first carrier frequency (“Each of the drive signals may have a unique modulation frequency that is a harmonic of a common base frequency” [0007]).
Regarding Claim 9, Curran teaches wherein the first carrier frequency and the second carrier frequency are in a radio band ([0035]).
Regarding Claim 10, Curran teaches wherein the message has a first frequency and the second message has a second frequency different from the first frequency (“Each of the drive signals may have a unique modulation frequency” [0007] and “Each electrode pair may be driven at a unique frequency to allow for significantly increasing a number of electrode pairs and/or increasing drive current magnitudes while minimizing crosstalk between channels” [0012]).
Regarding Claim 11, Curran teaches wherein the first frequency and the second frequency are separated by a discernable frequency ([0012] and [0055]).
Regarding Claim 12, Curran teaches wherein to modulate the carrier signal, the processing circuitry is further configured to: modulate an amplitude of the carrier signal to generate the modulated signal that carries the message ([0038]-[0039]).
Regarding Claim 13, Curran teaches a method comprising:
modulating, by processing circuitry, a carrier signal to generate a modulated signal that carries a message for transmission by a first electrode of a catheter; receiving, by the processing circuitry, an indication of the modulated signal received by a second electrode of the catheter; demodulating, by the processing circuitry, the modulated signal received by the second electrode to extract a demodulated message; and determining, by the processing circuitry, whether the first electrode contacts a target tissue site of a patient based at least in part on the demodulated message ([0007]-[0008], [0010], [0038]-[0041], [0043], [0049] and [0067] and Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 14, Curran teaches wherein the modulated signal comprises an ablation signal (an ablation generator applies the ablation signal to tissue, see [0030]-[0032]).
Regarding Claim 15, Curran teaches further comprising: outputting, by the processing circuitry, an indication of whether the first electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient ([0010], [0056] and [0067]).
Regarding Claim 16, Curran teaches wherein the target tissue site of the patient is on at least one of: an organ tissue, an arterial wall, or a venous wall of the patient (the heart being an organ tissue, Fig. 7 and [0056]).
Regarding Claim 19, Curran teaches further comprising: modulating, by the processing circuitry, a second carrier signal to generate a second modulated signal that carries a second message for transmission by the second electrode; receiving, by the processing circuitry, an indication of the second modulated signal received by the first electrode of the catheter; demodulating, by the processing circuitry, the second modulated signal received by the first electrode to extract a second demodulated message; and determining, by the processing circuitry, whether the second electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient based at least in part on the second demodulated message (either of the electrodes can reasonable be interpreted as a first electrode and a second electrode in view of Curran teaching “The signal generator 46 may be configured to generate (e.g., among other signals), a drive signal or excitation signal across the electrodes A, B (i.e., using one electrode as a source and the other as a sink)” in [0035] and “generating a plurality of drive signals. Each of the drive signals may have a modulation frequency that is a harmonic of a common base frequency. The drive signals may each be simultaneously applied across an individual pair of electrodes of the medical device. The method may further include measuring a composite response signal of the plurality of drive signals applied to the plurality of individual pairs of electrodes. The composite response signal may be synchronously demodulated for each unique modulation frequency. Once demodulated, impedance values may be output for each electrode and/or each individual pair of electrodes” [0010], also see [0007]-[0008], [0038]-[0041], [0043], [0049] and [0067] and Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 20, Curran teaches wherein the carrier signal has a first carrier frequency and the second carrier signal has a second carrier frequency that is the same as the first carrier frequency “Each of the drive signals may have a modulation frequency that is a harmonic of a common base frequency” [0007]).
Regarding Claim 21, Curran teaches wherein the message has a first frequency and the second message has a second frequency different from the first frequency (“if the electrodes pair are driven with a current at a common or single frequency, cross talk between the electrode pairs makes identifying the response of any given pair of electrodes difficult or impossible” [0044]; therefore, examiner takes the position that the message has a first frequency and the second message has a second frequency different from the first frequency in order to make it easier to identify the response to each electrode pair).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-6 and 17-18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding Claims 5 and 17, Curran teaches the invention as applied above; however, the determination of the electrode contact with tissue is based on the impedance values utilized for each electrode “demodulation outputs 330 a complex impedance value for each electrode. That is, a real impedance value and a reactive impedance value may be output for each electrode. For instance, these outputs may be output to the graphical user interface 68 (see FIG. 7). Along these lines, the assessed value for each electrode may be displayed on the graphical user interface 68 along with a graphical depiction of the catheter to provide a user with feedback on the contact status of each electrode. That is, the impedance values may be utilized for, among other things, to assess electrode contact with tissue” [0067] and not wherein to determine whether the first electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient, the processing circuitry is further configured to: compare the demodulated message with the message carried by the modulated signal to determine whether the first electrode contacts the target tissue site of the patient.
Regarding Claims 6 and 18 are objected to due to dependency over claims 5 and 17.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHADIJEH A VAHDAT whose telephone number is (571)270-7631. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-6 EST.
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/KHADIJEH A VAHDAT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3794
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