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 § 102
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 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 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication No 2015/0306340 granted to Giap et al (hereinafter “Giap”).
In reference to claim 1, Giap discloses a user guidance system [e.g. paragraph 0084, virtual reality medical application system 100] comprising: an interface [e.g. console 150] for receiving a specification of a medical protocol for a given patient, the specification defining a sequence of medical action points [e.g. paragraphs 0086, 0088]; a synthesizer [e.g. module subsystem 402] configured to synthesize a media sequence in accordance with the sequence of medical action points, to obtain a synthesized media sequence for the said patient, the media sequence suitable to guide the patient in a medical procedure based on the medical protocol [e.g. paragraphs 0120, 0124], wherein the medical protocol includes a medical imaging protocol [e.g. paragraph 0103].
In reference to claim 2, Giap discloses wherein the media sequence is of a pre-selected category [e.g. paragraph 0124].
In reference to claim 3, Giap discloses comprising a selector [e.g. Figure 3: element 312] configured to select the category based on at least one of an input from the patient or user received through a user interface [e.g. Figure 3: element 310]; or based on characteristics of the patient [e.g. paragraph 0115].
In reference to claim 4, Giap discloses comprising a transducer controller configured to control, based on the synthesized media sequence, a transducer to produce a media output for the patient [e.g. paragraph 0096].
In reference to claim 5, Giap discloses wherein the synthesized media sequence comprises a sequence of media elements associated with respective ones of the action points [e.g. Figure 4: module subsystem 402; paragraphs 0120-0121].
In reference to claim 6, Giap discloses wherein the synthesizing operation includes: i) changing an order of media elements in an existing media sequence and ii) modulating a media element in accordance with an action point [e.g. paragraphs 0173, 0212].
In reference to claim 7, Giap discloses comprising a delay measurement device (DMD) configured to measure an elapsed time period between the transducer being controlled as per a given media element and the patient preforming the associated action point [e.g. paragraph 0010].
In reference to claim 8, Giap discloses comprising a tuner module, configured to tune the specification of the medical protocol based on the measured time period to produce a tuned specification of the medical protocol [e.g. Figure 6: steps 546, 548, 570, 572; paragraph 0054].
In reference to claim 9, Giap discloses comprising a control interface [e.g. Figure 10: patient controller input], configured to control a medical imaging apparatus or therapy apparatus, based on the tuned specification [e.g. paragraph 0068].
In reference to claim 10, Giap discloses wherein the media sequence is one or more of: audio, imagery and video [e.g. paragraph 0120].
In reference to claim 11, Giap discloses wherein the synthesizer is based on a machine learning model of the generative type [e.g. paragraph 0120].
In reference to claim 12, Giap discloses comprising a medical imaging or therapy device and system [e.g. paragraph 0103].
In reference to claim 13, Giap discloses a computer implemented [e.g. computer console 150] method comprising: receiving a specification of a medical protocol for a given patient, the specification defining a sequence of medical action points [e.g. paragraphs 0086, 0088]; a synthesizer [e.g. module subsystem 402] configured to synthesize a media sequence in accordance with the sequence of medical action points, to obtain a synthesized media sequence for the said patient, the media sequence suitable to guide the patient in a medical procedure based on the medical protocol [e.g. paragraphs 0120, 0124], wherein the medical protocol includes a medical imaging protocol [e.g. paragraph 0103].
In reference to claim 14, Giap discloses a computer program element stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium which when executed by at least one processing unit, is configured to cause the processing unit to perform the method of claim 13 [e.g. paragraph 0085].
Conclusion
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/NADIA A MAHMOOD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3796