DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. This action is responsive to the Preliminary Amendment filed on 04/26/2024.
Claims 1-10 are pending, and have been examined on the merits.
Claim Objections
3. Claims 1-3, 5, & 9 are objected to because of the following informalities:
a. In claim 1, line 15, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
b. In claim 2, line 2, the recitation of “configured in such a way that” should instead recite --configured so that--.
c. In claim 3, line 4, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
d. In claim 3, line 6, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
e. In claim 5, line 4, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
f. In claim 5, line 7, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
g. In claim 9, line 4, the recitation of “furthermore” should instead recite --further--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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. Claims 1, 2, & 6-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by a publication to Imfeld et al., entitled “Large-Scale, High Resolution Data Acquisition System for Extracellular Recording of Electrophysiological Activity,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 55, No. 8, August 2008 (hereinafter “Imfeld”) [made of record in Applicant’s 04/26/24 IDS].
6. Regarding claim 1, Imfeld discloses an integrated electronic circuit (10,12) for an implantable probe module (11) [APS-MEA - pg. 2065, Section II(A)], comprising a number of pixel circuits (10) [pg. 2066, Section (B) (“array of pixel elements”)] each including:
an electrode (15) configured to contact a biological tissue [“electrode element” - FIG. 2, pg. 2066];
a biasing stage (M1,C) [FIG. 2 - transistors connected to Vbias and Caz] comprising a capacitor (C) [Caz] and a first transistor (M1) [FIG. 2 - transistor connected to Caz] having a respective control terminal and a respective first conduction terminal, which are respectively coupled to the capacitor (C) [Caz] and to an input node (NIN) [FIG. 2- the node connected to the (+) input of the differential amplifier], the first transistor (M1) being configured to inject in the input node (NIN) a biasing current (Ibias) [FIG. 2- bias current flowing through the input transistor connected to the electrode] that depends upon the charge of the capacitor (C) [Caz];
a second transistor (M2) [FIG. 2 - the input transistor connected to the electrode], which has a respective control terminal [gate connected to the electrode] and a respective first conduction terminal [drain of the input transistor connected to the (+) input of the differential amplifier], which are respectively coupled to the electrode (15) and to the input node (NIN);
an amplifier (20) [FIG. 2- differential amplifier] having a first input terminal [the (-) input of the differential amplifier], configured to be set to a corresponding first reference voltage (Vref1) [Vref], and a second input terminal [the (+) input of the differential amplifier], which is coupled to the input node (NIN);
said integrated electronic circuit (10,12) furthermore comprising:
a feedback stage (30) [Auto-Zeroing - FIG. 2] electrically controllable so as to be alternatively coupled or decoupled [sampled feedback (SW AZ1) in FIG. 2] from the biasing stage (M1,C) and from the amplifier (20) [differential amplifier] of each pixel circuit (10), said feedback stage (30) being configured to form, when coupled to the biasing stage (M1,C) and to the amplifier (20) of a pixel circuit (10), an autozeroing loop [FIG. 2] that charges the corresponding capacitor (C) so that the corresponding biasing current (Ibias) is such that on the corresponding input node (NIN) a voltage substantially equal to the corresponding first reference voltage (Vref1) is present [see pg. 2067, col. 1 - (“During operation, a calibration sequence (SWAZ1 and SWAZ2 closed) lasting 4 μs is used for resetting the input to a defined potential that is equal to the electrolyte potential, and which sets the feedback to its appropriate dc value. At the end of the calibration sequence the feedback path is opened and the sampling capacitor CAZ holds the corresponding value”)].
7. Regarding claim 2, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld further discloses wherein each pixel circuit (10) is configured in such a way that the respective second transistor (M2) is traversed by the same biasing current (Ibias) injected by the corresponding first transistor (M1) [this limitation implies at most that the first and second transistors are connected serially - which is shown in FIG. 2].
8. Regarding claim 6, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld further discloses wherein the second transistor (M2) of each pixel circuit (10) has a respective second conduction terminal, which is set to a first reference potential (GND); and wherein the first transistor (M1) of each pixel circuit (10) has a respective second conduction terminal, which is set to a second reference potential (VDD) [see FIG. 2]; and wherein the capacitor (C) [Caz] of each pixel circuit (10) has a respective first terminal, set to the first or the second reference potential (VDD), and a respective second terminal, coupled to the control terminal of the corresponding first transistor (M1) [see FIG. 2, and pg. 2066, col. 2 - pg. 2067, col. 2].
9. Regarding claim 7, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld further discloses wherein the first and second transistors (M1,M2) of each pixel circuit (10) are P-channel enhancement MOSFET transistors [clearly shown in FIG. 2].
10. Regarding claim 8, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld further discloses a biasing circuitry (12) coupled to the first input terminals of the amplifiers (20) of the pixel circuits (10) and configured to set, on each of said input terminals, a corresponding first reference voltage (Vref1) [FIG. 2; NOTE: those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that biasing circuitry is used to set a first reference voltage].
11. Regarding claim 9, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld further discloses wherein the amplifier (20) of each pixel circuit (10) is configured to generate an output signal (VOUT) on its own output terminal; said integrated electronic circuit (10,12) furthermore comprising a reading circuit (12) couplable in an electrically controllable manner to the pixel circuits (10), so as to read the respective output signals (VOUT) [see pg. 2067 (caption of FIG. 2) (“The signal on the electrode is sampled by SWGLSH and output through a buffer and a switch to the column line”)].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
12. 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.
13. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
14. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Imfeld.
15. Regarding claim 10, Imfeld discloses all of the limitations of claim 1 for the reasons set forth in detail (above) in the Office Action.
Imfeld does not, however, explicitly disclose:
wherein the amplifier (20) of each pixel circuit (10) is a transconductance amplifier.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Imfeld to utilize a well-known, art-recognized amplifier, such as, e.g., a transconductance amplifier, since Applicant has not disclosed that such an amplifier solves any stated problem or is for any particular purpose, nor that such an amplifier would present any novel or unexpected result over the amplifier used in Imfeld.
Allowable Subject Matter
16. Claims 3-5 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim (independent claim 1), but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
17. Claim 3 further requires the following limitations:
wherein the feedback stage (30) has a first input terminal, configured to be set to a second reference voltage (Vref2), a second input terminal and a respective output terminal, said feedback stage (30) furthermore comprising a feedback amplifier (32), the output terminal of which is coupled to the output terminal of the feedback stage (30); and
wherein each pixel circuit (10) furthermore comprises a respective first switch (S1), which is controllable so as to couple/decouple the corresponding capacitor (C) to the output terminal of the feedback stage (30), and a respective second switch (S2), which is controllable so as to couple/decouple the output terminal of the corresponding amplifier (20) to the second input terminal of the feedback stage (30); and
wherein the feedback stage (30) is electrically controllable so as to operate alternatively in a first configuration, in which a first and a second input terminal of the feedback amplifier (32) are respectively coupled to the first and to the second input terminals of the feedback stage (30), and in a second configuration, wherein the first and the second input terminals of the feedback amplifier (32) are respectively coupled to the output terminal of the feedback amplifier (32) and to the first input terminal of the feedback stage (30), in such a way that the feedback amplifier (32) operates as a voltage follower and transfers the second reference voltage (Vref2) to the output terminal of the feedback stage (30).
Neither Imfeld nor the other references of record, either alone or in combination, fairly teach or suggest the foregoing emphasized limitations of claim 3, which allow for the further improvement of the auto-zeroing operation by compensating the offset of the feedback amplifier.
18. Claims 4 & 5 each depend directly from claim 3, and would therefore be allowable for the same reasons.
Conclusion
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bradford C. Blaise whose telephone number is (571)272-5617. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8 AM-5 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Linda Dvorak can be reached on 571-272-4764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Bradford C. Blaise/Examiner, Art Unit 3794