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
Claims 1, 2, and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, line 1 “the heart” should be changed to “a heart”.
In claim 1, line 10 “the location” should be changed to “a location”.
In claim 12, line 1 “the heart” should be changed to “a heart”.
In claim 12, line 8 “the location” should be changed to “a location”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 12 -15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 12 and 15, claim 12 recites the limitation “the image-based segmentation unit”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim, no image-based segmentation unit has previously been set forth. Did the Applicant intend to refer to the model-based segmentation unit? A separate segmentation unit entirely? Something else? Clarification is required. For examination purposes, this limitation will be interpreted as referring to the previously set forth model-based segmentation unit. The same will apply to claim 15.
Claims 13 and 14 are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) because they inherit the indefiniteness of the claim(s) they respectively depend upon.
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 1-3 and 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Patil et al. (US20210128114, hereafter Patil).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Patil discloses a method and system of imaging (Patil, Para 1; “More specifically, certain embodiments relate to a method and system for automatically adjusting beamformer parameters based on ultrasound image analysis to enhance ultrasound image acquisition.”) the heart (Patil, Para 19; “he ultrasound probe 104 may be operable to acquire ultrasound image data covering at least a substantial portion of an anatomy, such as the heart, a blood vessel, or any suitable anatomical structure.”), comprising:
controlling an ultrasound probe to receive first reflected ultrasound echo signals from the heart, wherein the first reflected ultrasound echo signals were transmitted using first transmit parameters (Patil, Para 20; “The transmit beamformer 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to control the transmitter 102 which, through a transmit sub-aperture beamformer 114, drives the group of transmit transducer elements 106 to emit ultrasonic transmit signals into a region of interest (e.g., human, animal, underground cavity, physical structure and the like). The transmitted ultrasonic signals may be back-scattered from structures in the object of interest, like blood cells or tissue, to produce echoes. The echoes are received by the receive transducer elements 108.”);
creating an ultrasound image of the heart from the first reflected ultrasound echo signals using first echo signal processing parameters (Patil, Para. 19; Para 26; “The signal processor 132 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to process ultrasound scan data (i.e., summed IQ signal) for generating ultrasound images for presentation on a display system 134.”);
performing model-based segmentation of the ultrasound image to identify anatomical structures of the heart (Patil, Para 29; “The signal processor 132 may include an image segmentation processor 140 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to analyze acquired ultrasound images to identify and segment anatomical structures”) (Patil, Para 30; “The image segmentation processor 140 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to analyze acquired ultrasound images to identify and segment anatomical structures and image artifacts. […] As an example, if performing an ultrasound procedure of the heart, the output layer may include neurons for a mitral valve, aortic valve, ventricle chambers, atria chambers, septum, papillary muscle, inferior wall, rib shadow artifacts, and the like.”);
for at least one anatomical structure which has areas of dropout, using the segmentation to extrapolate from the identified anatomical structures to identify the location within the image of the areas of dropout (Patil, Para 29; “The signal processor 132 may include an image segmentation processor 140 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to analyze acquired ultrasound images to identify and segment […] image artifacts, such as […] or any suitable anatomical structures or image artifact.”) (Patil, Para 30; “Other ultrasound procedures may utilize output layers that include […] shadow artifacts, dark region artifacts, or any suitable anatomical structure and/or image artifact. […] The processing performed by the image segmentation processor 140 deep neural network (e.g., convolutional neural network) may identify anatomical structures and image artifacts in ultrasound image data with a high degree of probability.”) (Patil, Para 33; “Referring again to FIG. 1, the signal processor 132 may include an enhancement detection processor 150 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to determine whether and where to perform image enhancement based on the anatomical structures and image artifacts identified by the image segmentation processor 140 […] As another example, the enhancement detection processor 150 may determine to perform image enhancement and identify locations in the ultrasound image for enhancement based on the locations of image artifacts identified by the image segmentation processor 140 and locations of obstructing anatomical structures identified by the image segmentation processor 140 that may be associated with the image artifacts.”); and
obtaining a next ultrasound image of the heart using second, different, echo signal processing parameters and/or second, different, transmit parameters specifically for the at least one anatomical structure, or for the areas of dropout for the at least one anatomical structure, thereby to improve the signal to noise ratio at least for the areas of dropout (Patil, Para 35; “Referring again to FIG. 1, the signal processor 132 may include a parameter adjustment processor 160 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters in response to the locations of anatomical structures, obstacles, and/or image artifacts provided by the enhancement detection processor 150 to acquire enhanced ultrasound images having improved insonation of a particular region or regions. Beamformer parameters, as referred to herein, include both transmit and receive beamforming parameters, such as a number and position of activated and deactivated transducer elements, transducer element weights, delays, beam angles, and the like. In various embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to go around or otherwise avoid acoustically hard anatomies detected by the enhancement detection processor 150 to enhance regions below the acoustically hard anatomies by eliminating shadows and dark regions. For example, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may deactivate transducer elements adjacent ribs to avoid rib shadows and/or may adjust beamforming weights and/or beam angles to capture image data below the ribs, a gall bladder, or other acoustically hard anatomy as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In certain embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to improve image contrast and/or sharpness of an anatomy of interest detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In an exemplary embodiment, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters to avoid image artifacts detected by the enhancement detection processor 150, such as haze or a twinkling effect of the gall bladder, among other things. For example, in a gall bladder stone ultrasound procedure, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may reduce a pulse repetition frequency and change a focal zone to just below a calcification in a gall bladder if the calcification-like mass includes twinkling artifacts as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. As another example, in a kidney cyst ultrasound examination, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may turn on harmonics to improve insonation of a posterior of a cyst if the posterior region of the cyst includes a dark region image artifact detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. The ultrasound system 100 may be operable to acquire a next ultrasound image based on the beamformer parameters adjusted by the parameter adjustment processor 160 to present the enhanced ultrasound image at the display system 134.”) (Patil, Para 33; “The enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of the shadows and the location of the obstructing anatomical structure to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. As another example, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect a location of an anatomy of interest as defined by a protocol or user input to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. Additionally, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of an anatomical structure having a known or detected imaging deficiency, such as a twinkling effect that may appear when imaging a gall bladder, and may provide the location of the anatomical structure having the known or detected imaging deficiency to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image.”).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above.
Patil further discloses wherein obtaining a next ultrasound image of the heart comprises controlling the ultrasound probe to receive second reflected ultrasound echo signals, wherein the second reflected ultrasound echo signals were transmitted using the second transmit parameters and, optionally, applying the second, different, echo signal processing parameters to the second reflected ultrasound echo signals dropout (Patil, Para 35; “Referring again to FIG. 1, the signal processor 132 may include a parameter adjustment processor 160 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters in response to the locations of anatomical structures, obstacles, and/or image artifacts provided by the enhancement detection processor 150 to acquire enhanced ultrasound images having improved insonation of a particular region or regions. Beamformer parameters, as referred to herein, include both transmit and receive beamforming parameters, such as a number and position of activated and deactivated transducer elements, transducer element weights, delays, beam angles, and the like. In various embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to go around or otherwise avoid acoustically hard anatomies detected by the enhancement detection processor 150 to enhance regions below the acoustically hard anatomies by eliminating shadows and dark regions. For example, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may deactivate transducer elements adjacent ribs to avoid rib shadows and/or may adjust beamforming weights and/or beam angles to capture image data below the ribs, a gall bladder, or other acoustically hard anatomy as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In certain embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to improve image contrast and/or sharpness of an anatomy of interest detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In an exemplary embodiment, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters to avoid image artifacts detected by the enhancement detection processor 150, such as haze or a twinkling effect of the gall bladder, among other things. For example, in a gall bladder stone ultrasound procedure, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may reduce a pulse repetition frequency and change a focal zone to just below a calcification in a gall bladder if the calcification-like mass includes twinkling artifacts as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. As another example, in a kidney cyst ultrasound examination, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may turn on harmonics to improve insonation of a posterior of a cyst if the posterior region of the cyst includes a dark region image artifact detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. The ultrasound system 100 may be operable to acquire a next ultrasound image based on the beamformer parameters adjusted by the parameter adjustment processor 160 to present the enhanced ultrasound image at the display system 134.”) (Patil, Para 33; “The enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of the shadows and the location of the obstructing anatomical structure to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. As another example, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect a location of an anatomy of interest as defined by a protocol or user input to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. Additionally, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of an anatomical structure having a known or detected imaging deficiency, such as a twinkling effect that may appear when imaging a gall bladder, and may provide the location of the anatomical structure having the known or detected imaging deficiency to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image.”).
Regarding claims 3, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above.
Patil further discloses wherein the second, different, transmit parameters comprise different beamforming parameters compared to the first transmit parameters, wherein the second transmit parameters include, relative to the first transmit parameters, one or more of: an increased number of transmit pulses per scanline; an increased transmit aperture; an increased scanline density; a different pulse frequency; and a different pulse waveform (Patil, Para 35; “Referring again to FIG. 1, the signal processor 132 may include a parameter adjustment processor 160 that comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code that may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters in response to the locations of anatomical structures, obstacles, and/or image artifacts provided by the enhancement detection processor 150 to acquire enhanced ultrasound images having improved insonation of a particular region or regions. Beamformer parameters, as referred to herein, include both transmit and receive beamforming parameters, such as a number and position of activated and deactivated transducer elements, transducer element weights, delays, beam angles, and the like. In various embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to go around or otherwise avoid acoustically hard anatomies detected by the enhancement detection processor 150 to enhance regions below the acoustically hard anatomies by eliminating shadows and dark regions. For example, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may deactivate transducer elements adjacent ribs to avoid rib shadows and/or may adjust beamforming weights and/or beam angles to capture image data below the ribs, a gall bladder, or other acoustically hard anatomy as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In certain embodiments, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust the beamformer parameters to improve image contrast and/or sharpness of an anatomy of interest detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. In an exemplary embodiment, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may be operable to adjust beamformer parameters to avoid image artifacts detected by the enhancement detection processor 150, such as haze or a twinkling effect of the gall bladder, among other things. For example, in a gall bladder stone ultrasound procedure, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may reduce a pulse repetition frequency and change a focal zone to just below a calcification in a gall bladder if the calcification-like mass includes twinkling artifacts as detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. As another example, in a kidney cyst ultrasound examination, the parameter adjustment processor 160 may turn on harmonics to improve insonation of a posterior of a cyst if the posterior region of the cyst includes a dark region image artifact detected by the enhancement detection processor 150. The ultrasound system 100 may be operable to acquire a next ultrasound image based on the beamformer parameters adjusted by the parameter adjustment processor 160 to present the enhanced ultrasound image at the display system 134.”) (Patil, Para 33; “The enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of the shadows and the location of the obstructing anatomical structure to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. As another example, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect a location of an anatomy of interest as defined by a protocol or user input to provide to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image. Additionally, the enhancement detection processor 150 may detect the location of an anatomical structure having a known or detected imaging deficiency, such as a twinkling effect that may appear when imaging a gall bladder, and may provide the location of the anatomical structure having the known or detected imaging deficiency to the parameter adjustment processor 160 to enhance the ultrasound image.”).
Regarding claims 10, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above.
Patil further discloses wherein the at least one anatomical structure comprises the lateral heart wall (Patil, Para 30; “As an example, if performing an ultrasound procedure of the heart, the output layer may include neurons for a mitral valve, aortic valve, ventricle chambers,”).
Regarding claims 11, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above.
Patil further discloses a computer program comprising computer program code means which is adapted, when said program is run on a computer, to implement the method of claim 1 (Patil, Para 51; “Certain embodiments provide a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon, a computer program having at least one code section. The at least one code section is executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform steps 300. The steps 300 may comprise receiving 302 an ultrasound image 202. The steps 300 may comprise segmenting 304 the ultrasound image 202 to identify at least one anatomical structure 210-240 and/or at least one image artifact 250, 260 in the ultrasound image 202. The steps 300 may comprise detecting 308 a location of each of the identified at least one anatomical structure 210-240 and/or the at least one image artifact 250, 260. The steps 300 may comprise automatically adjusting 310 at least one beamformer parameter based on the detected location of one or more of the identified at least one anatomical structure 210-240 and/or the at least one image artifact 250, 260. The steps 300 may comprise receiving 302 an enhanced ultrasound image acquired 312 based on the automatically adjusted at least one beamformer parameter. The steps 300 may comprise presenting 302 the enhanced ultrasound image at a display system 134.”).
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.
Claims 4-6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil and Cooley et al. (US20090069692).
Regarding claims 4 and 14, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein obtaining a next ultrasound image of the heart comprises applying the second, different, echo signal processing parameters to the first reflected ultrasound echo signals.
In an analogous diagnostic ultrasound artifact reduction system field of endeavor Cooley discloses applying second different echo signal processing parameters to reduce motion artifacts (Cooley, Para 37; “The adjustments made in this example are in control of the transmit beamformer to transmit a larger F number beam which laterally encompasses fewer multilines when motion is present so that the multilines which are combined span a shorter period of transmit times. […] An exemplary adjustment range is to use 16× multiline (receiving sixteen multilines in response to a transmit beam and combining multilines from sixteen transmit beams) when the image field is stationary, and decreasing the multiline order to 8×, 4×, 2× and 1× (single line transmit and receive) as the amount of motion increases.”) (Cooley, Para 30; “The refocusing adjusts for the phase differences resulting from the use of different transmit beam locations for each multiline, preventing undesired phase cancellation in the combined signals. The weights 114 weight the contributions of the multilines in relation to the proximity of the transmit beam to the multiline location, giving higher weight to receive beams with higher signal-to-noise ratios. This results in an extended depth of field along each receive line and an enhanced penetration (improved signal-to-noise ratio) due to the combination of multiple samplings in each receive line direction.”) (Cooley, Para 38; “This is also a way to reduce motion artifacts. Receiving multilines at more widely spaced line intervals with a fewer number of transmit beams is another way to address the problem of motion. This approach can be augmented with interpolated lines as mentioned above to increase the number of lines which are combined.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein obtaining a next ultrasound image of the heart comprises applying the second, different, echo signal processing parameters to the first reflected ultrasound echo signals in order to improve imaging by suppressing or removing motion artifacts in the ultrasound image as taught by Cooley (Cooley, Para 38).
Regarding claim 5, Patil as modified by Cooley above discloses all of the limitations of claim 4 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise the parameters for retrospective dynamic transmit focusing including, for example, the number of transmit beams which are combined per scanline.
Cooley further discloses adjusting parameters for retrospective dynamic transmit focusing to reduce motion artifacts (Cooley, Para 30; “The refocusing adjusts for the phase differences resulting from the use of different transmit beam locations for each multiline, preventing undesired phase cancellation in the combined signals. The weights 114 weight the contributions of the multilines in relation to the proximity of the transmit beam to the multiline location, giving higher weight to receive beams with higher signal-to-noise ratios. This results in an extended depth of field along each receive line and an enhanced penetration (improved signal-to-noise ratio) due to the combination of multiple samplings in each receive line direction.”) (Cooley, Para 38; “This is also a way to reduce motion artifacts. Receiving multilines at more widely spaced line intervals with a fewer number of transmit beams is another way to address the problem of motion. This approach can be augmented with interpolated lines as mentioned above to increase the number of lines which are combined.”) (Cooley, Para 37; “The adjustments made in this example are in control of the transmit beamformer to transmit a larger F number beam which laterally encompasses fewer multilines when motion is present so that the multilines which are combined span a shorter period of transmit times. […] An exemplary adjustment range is to use 16× multiline (receiving sixteen multilines in response to a transmit beam and combining multilines from sixteen transmit beams) when the image field is stationary, and decreasing the multiline order to 8×, 4×, 2× and 1× (single line transmit and receive) as the amount of motion increases.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise the parameters for retrospective dynamic transmit focusing including, for example, the number of transmit beams which are combined per scanline in order to improve imaging by suppressing or removing motion artifacts in the ultrasound image as taught by Cooley (Cooley, Para 38).
Regarding claim 6, Patil as modified by Cooley above discloses all of the limitations of claim 5 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein the parameters for retrospective dynamic transmit focusing include the number of multi-lines in per transmit beam.
Cooley further adjusting the number of multi-lines in per transmit beam (Cooley, Para 37; “The adjustments made in this example are in control of the transmit beamformer to transmit a larger F number beam which laterally encompasses fewer multilines when motion is present so that the multilines which are combined span a shorter period of transmit times. […] An exemplary adjustment range is to use 16× multiline (receiving sixteen multilines in response to a transmit beam and combining multilines from sixteen transmit beams) when the image field is stationary, and decreasing the multiline order to 8×, 4×, 2× and 1× (single line transmit and receive) as the amount of motion increases.”) (Cooley, Para 30; “The refocusing adjusts for the phase differences resulting from the use of different transmit beam locations for each multiline, preventing undesired phase cancellation in the combined signals. The weights 114 weight the contributions of the multilines in relation to the proximity of the transmit beam to the multiline location, giving higher weight to receive beams with higher signal-to-noise ratios. This results in an extended depth of field along each receive line and an enhanced penetration (improved signal-to-noise ratio) due to the combination of multiple samplings in each receive line direction.”) (Cooley, Para 38; “This is also a way to reduce motion artifacts. Receiving multilines at more widely spaced line intervals with a fewer number of transmit beams is another way to address the problem of motion. This approach can be augmented with interpolated lines as mentioned above to increase the number of lines which are combined.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein the parameters for retrospective dynamic transmit focusing include the number of multi-lines in per transmit beam in order to improve imaging by suppressing or removing motion artifacts in the ultrasound image as taught by Cooley (Cooley, Para 38).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil and Cooley as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Perperidis et al. (Perperidis A, McDicken N, MacGillivray T, Anderson T. Elevational spatial compounding for enhancing image quality in echocardiography. Ultrasound. 2016 May;24(2):74-85. doi: 10.1177/1742271X16632283. Epub 2016 Mar 1. PMID: 27274757; PMCID: PMC4874059., hereafter Perperidis).
Regarding claim 7, Patil as modified by Cooley above discloses all of the limitations of claim 4 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise the parameters for elevational spatial compounding including, for example, the number of elevation planes.
In an analogous diagnostic ultrasound field of endeavor Perperidis discloses using elevational spatial compounding to reduce noise (Perperidis, Abstract; “Elevational spatial compounding can produce substantial noise and speckle suppression as well as visual enhancement of tissue structures”) (Perperidis, Pg 75; “Elevational spatial compounding (ESC)25 provides an early attempt to compound 3D ultrasound data acquired by steering the imaging plane using small inclinations along the elevation plane to generate an enhanced 2D dataset.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise the parameters for elevational spatial compounding including, for example, the number of elevation planes in order to improve visualization of tissue as taught by Perperidis (Perperidis, Abstract).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil and Cooley as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Yoo et al. (US20110184292, hereafter Yoo).
Regarding claim 8, Patil as modified by Cooley above discloses all of the limitations of claim 4 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise frequency compounding parameters and/or spatial compounding parameters, wherein the frequency compounding parameters and/or spatial compounding parameters for the second echo signal processing parameters are chosen such that they improve the contrast to noise ratio of the areas of dropout.
In an analogous diagnostic ultrasound artifact reduction system field of endeavor Yoo discloses performing spatial compounding to reduce areas of dropout (Yoo, Para 5; “Embodiments for spatially compounding ultrasound images for removing seam artifact in an ultrasound system are disclosed herein.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein the first and second echo signal processing parameters comprise frequency compounding parameters and/or spatial compounding parameters, wherein the frequency compounding parameters and/or spatial compounding parameters for the second echo signal processing parameters are chosen such that they improve the contrast to noise ratio of the areas of dropout in order to improve imaging by removing artifacts in the ultrasound image as taught by Yoo (Yoo, Para 5 and abstract).
Claims 9 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Patil and Masui et al. (US 20120224759, hereafter Masui).
Regarding claims 9 and 15, Patil discloses all of the limitations of claims 1 and 12 as discussed above.
Patil does not clearly and explicitly disclose wherein identifying the location within the image of the areas of dropout comprises using a confidence measure generated by the model-based segmentation.
In an analogous diagnostic ultrasound artifact reduction system field of endeavor Cooley discloses wherein identifying areas of dropout comprises using a confidence measure (Masui, Para 60; “With the characteristics as described above, by comparing the SAD minimum value in the histogram of the SAD distribution in the search area 32, with the SAD values with high frequency, it is possible to discriminate confidence of the ROI 31 signal (noise level low) associated with the search area 32, and confidence of the motion vectors determined in the search area 32. Consequently, an area with low confidence may be discriminated as a low SNR area, and further the confidence of associated motion vectors may be determined.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Patil wherein identifying the location within the image of the areas of dropout comprises using a confidence measure generated by the model-based segmentation in order to improve imaging by identifying areas of noise as taught by Masui (Masui, Para 6-8).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John Li whose telephone number is (313)446-4916. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday; 5:30 AM to 3:30 PM Eastern.
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/JOHN D LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798