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 (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.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed on 05/29/2024 have been fully considered and are made of record.
Claims 14 and 2-9 have been amended.
Claims 1 and 10-13 have been cancelled.
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.
5. Claim(s) 2, 5-6, 9 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Ashraf et al. (NPL: T- and Cascaded Pi-Shaped 1H T/R Switches with Realistic Trace Width for 7 Tesla MRI).
Regarding Claim 14, Ashraf teaches a method of transmitting radio frequency signals to an MRI RF coil from a microstripline based hybrid coupler T/R switch (See page 1) comprising:
forward biasing a first pin diode and a second pin diode (See two pin diodes in Fig. 6 and Fig. below; See page 4; Col. 2) both electrically connected to the microstripline based hybrid coupler T/R switch (See TR switch in fig. 6 and Fig. below; page 4-page 5);
receiving an RF input signal on a first port of the microstripline-based hybrid coupler T/R switch (port 1 transmits and port 2 receives by RF coil in Fig. 6 and Fig. below; See page 4, Col. 1); and
transmitting the RF input signal through a second port the of the microstripline-based hybrid coupler T/R switch to the MRI RF coil (port 2 receives by MRI RF coil in Fig. 6 and Fig. below; See page 4, Col. 1),
wherein the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch (See Fig. 6, page 4-page 5) comprises:
a microstripline based hybrid coupler having a top side and a bottom side (See hybrid coupler with top side and bottom side in Fig. 6 and fig. below; See page 4-page 5);
the first pin diode (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below);
the second pin diode (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below);
four vertical transmission lines arranged in a bended manner (See four vertical transmission lines in Fig. 6 and Fig. below) and six horizontal transmission lines arranged in a bended manner (See six horizontal transmission lines in Fig. 6 and Fig. below) on the microstripline based hybrid coupler (See page 4-page 5);
wherein the top side of the microstripline based hybrid coupler is associated with the first port and the second port (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below), and electrically connected to the first pin diode and the second pin diode (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below), and wherein the bottom side is associated with a third port and a fourth port (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below), and the bottom side is electrically connected with the first pin diode and the second pin diode (See Fig. 6 and Fig. below); and
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wherein the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch is configured to receive RF pulses of different frequencies that are transmitted to and received from the MRI RF coil (See page 4-page 6), wherein the different frequencies are received concurrently and without tuning by the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch from the MRI RF coil (See page 3-page 6).
Regarding Claim 2, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the microstripline based hybrid coupler comprises four branches (See four branches in Fig. 6; page 1).
Regarding Claim 5, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the top side and the bottom side of the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch are of equal sizes (See same sizes couplers in Fig 6).
Regarding Claim 6, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein a length of the microstripline based hybrid coupler is less than 540 mm and a width of the microstripline based hybrid coupler is less than 175 mm (See page 3, Col. 2).
Regarding Claim 9, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the microstripline of the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch does not exceed a threshold trace width of 0.55 mm (See page2, Col. 1).
Regarding Claim 15, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the RF input signal is transmitting in a range 74-130 MHz or a range 280-332 MHz to the MRI RF coil (See page 5, Col. 1).
Regarding Claim 16, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the RF signal transmits through the microstripline based hybrid coupler with an insertion loss less than -0.64 dB (See page 5, Col. 2).
Regarding Claim 17, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the RF signal transmits through the microstripline based hybrid coupler T/R switch with a return loss less than -15 dB (good matching is low return loss; See page 5, Col. 2).
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) 3-4 and 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ashraf in view of .
Regarding Claim 3, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein a length of at least one transmission line (See transmission line length in Fig. 3 and Fig. below; See page 3).
Ashraf is silent about length between 55cm and 105cm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use length 55cm and 105cm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233, in order to achieve realistic results (Ashraf; page 5).
Regarding Claim 4, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the top side and the bottom side of the multi-resonance transmit/receive (T/R) switch are T-shaped (See T-shaped switch in Fig. 6; See page 4-page 5).
Ashraf is silent about switches are rectangular in shape.
It would have been an obvious matter of design choice to use switches are rectangular in shape since such a modification would have involved a mere change in the size of a component. A change in size is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. In re Rose, 105 USPQ 237 (CCPA 1955), in order to achieve realistic results (Ashraf; page 5).
Regarding Claim 7, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the microstripline based hybrid coupler has height (See page 2, Col. 2).
Ashraf is silent about height between 1.4 mm and 1.7 mm.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use height between 1.4 mm and 1.7 mm, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233, in order to achieve realistic results (Ashraf; page 5).
Regarding Claim 8, Ashraf teaches the method of claim 14, wherein the microstripline based hybrid coupler has relative permittivity (See page 2, Col. 2).
Ashraf is silent about permittivity is between 2.42 and 2.68.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to use permittivity between 2.42 and 2.68, since it has been held that where the general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, discovering the optimum or working ranges involves only routine skill in the art. In re Aller, 105 USPQ 233, in order to achieve realistic results (Ashraf; page 5).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yang et al. (Pub NO. US 2020/0150200 A1) discloses MRI Coil.
Yang et al. (Pub NO. US 2019/0187227 A1) discloses Coil of Transmission Line.
Finnerty et al. (Pub NO. US 2016/0363641 A1) discloses MRI for Use.
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/ZANNATUL FERDOUS/Examiner, Art Unit 2858
/LEE E RODAK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2858