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 .
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/3/2024 was in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim(s) 3 and 13 is/are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim(s) 3, line 2+, “in which”, was recited perhaps - -
In claim(s) 13, line 2+, “as claimed in”, was recited perhaps - - .
Appropriate correction is required.
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8, 11-16, and 20-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu (US 20100219776 A1).
With regards to claim 1. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) An RF source for a radiotherapy devices (figs 1-8; [004]) comprising:
a first RF pulse generator (2a);
a second RF pulse generator (2b) wherein the first RF pulse generator and the second RE pulse generator are arranged to deliver RF pulses to a particle accelerator (9); and
a controller (12) arranged to control the first RF pulse generator (2a) and the second RF pulse generator (2b) to generate pulses sequentially (see pulses D and E in fig 2; [0036]; see pulse F).
With regards to claim 2. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator comprise magnetrons (see 2a and 2b; [0036]).
With regards to claim 3. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1,
wherein in which the controller includes automatic frequency control for controlling generation of the pulses at a predetermined RF frequency (see AFC [0035]).
With regards to claim 4. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller includes phase lock control for controlling the phase of sequential pulses to a common phase [0015].
With regards to claim 5. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator are arranged to generate pulses at respective different power levels (see D and F in fig 2).
With regards to claim 6. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1 comprising;
a third RF pulse generator (see 2c; fig 6).
With regards to claim 7. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The RF source as claimed in claim 1, further comprising;
an interleaver (3) arranged to receive the RF pulses from the first RF pulse generator (2a) and the second RF pulse generator (2b) as input pulses and interleave them in order to produce an interleaved signal (see inputted pulses D and E and outputted signal F; figs 1 and 2).
With regards to claim 8. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) A method (figs 1-8; [004]) of operating an RF source for a radiotherapy device comprising a first RF pulse generator (2a) and a second RF pulse generator (2b) arranged to deliver RF pulses to a particle accelerator(9), the method comprising
controlling the first RF pulse generator (2a) and the second RF pulse generator(2b) to generate pulses sequentially (see pulses D and E in fig 2; [0036]; see pulse F).
With regards to claim 11. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method as claimed in claim 8, in which the first RF pulse generator (2a) and the second RF pulse generator (2b) are controlled to generate pulses at different pulse powers(see inputted pulses D and E and outputted signal F; figs 1 and 2).
With regards to claim 12. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method as claimed in claim 8, the method further comprising;
interleaving (3) the RE pulses from the first RF pulse generator and the second RE pulse generator in order to produce an interleaved signal (see inputted pulses D and E and outputted signal F; figs 1 and 2).
With regards to claim 13. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) A radio therapy device (figs 1-8; [004]) comprising an RF source (2a and 2b), the RF source comprising: as claimed in
a first RF pulse generator (2a);
a second RF pulse generator (2b), wherein the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator are configured to deliver RF pulses to a particle accelerator (see pulses generated D and E); and
a controller (12) to control the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator to generate pulses sequentially (see pulses D and E in fig 2; [0036]; see pulse F).
With regards to claim 14. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) A method of operating an RF source for a radiotherapy device (figs 1-8; [004]) comprising a first RF pulse generator (2a) and a second RF pulse generator (2b) arranged to deliver RF pulses (see pulses D and E in fig 2; [0036]; see pulse F) to a particle accelerator (9), the method comprising:
controlling the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator to generate a series of interleaved pulses (see pulses D and E in fig 2; [0036]; see pulse F); and
delivering the series of interleaved pulses (F) to the particle accelerator (9), wherein the first RF pulse generator (2a) generates pulses at a first power (D; fig 1 and 2) and the second RF pulse generator (2b) generates pulses at a second power (E; fig 1 and 2).
With regards to claim 15. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method of claim 14, wherein the first RF pulse generator and the second RF pulse generator are phase-locked [0015].
With regards to claim 16. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method of claim 14, wherein an electron input of the particle accelerator is varied during a radiotherapy treatment fraction session [0037-0040].
With regards to claim 20. Liu disclose(s):
(New) The radio therapy device of claim 13,
wherein the controller includes automatic frequency control for controlling generation of the pulses at a predetermined RF frequency(see AFC [0035]).
With regards to claim 21. Liu disclose(s):
(New) The radio therapy device of claim 13, wherein the controller includes phase lock [0015] control for controlling a phase of the sequential pulses to a common phase (see phase being common for each of subcomponent D and E in F; fig 2).
With regards to claim 22. Liu disclose(s):
(New) The radio therapy device of claim 13, wherein the first RF pulse generator is configured to generate a pulse at a first power level (D; fig 2) and the second RF pulse generator is configured to generate a pulse at a second power level different than the first power level (see E being at different power than D).
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 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 of this title, 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) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (US 20100219776 A1) in view of Leek (US 20100231144 A1).
With regards to claim 9. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method as claimed in claim 8,
Liu does not disclose:
detecting failure of one of the first RF pulse generator or the second RF pulse generator; and controlling operation of a non-failed RF pulse generator differentially accordingly.
Leek teaches:
detecting failure of one of the first RF pulse generator or the second RF pulse generator; and controlling operation of a non-failed RF pulse generator differentially accordingly [0032].
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of Liu by implementing the detecting failure of one of the first RF pulse generator or the second RF pulse generator; and controlling operation of a non-failed RF pulse generator differentially accordingly as disclosed by Leek in order to provide a backup RF generator when one malfunctions as taught/suggested by Leek ([0032]).
With regards to claim 10. Liu as modified disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method as claimed in claim 9,
Leek further discloses:
wherein the non-failed RF pulse generator is controlled to operate at least one of a different power level, a different pulse repetition rate, and a different pulse repetition pattern ([0032]).
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu (US 20100219776 A1) in view of Dempsey (US 10413751 B2).
With regards to claim 17. Liu disclose(s):
(Currently Amended) The method of claim 14,
Liu does not disclose(s):
the method further comprising:
using the RF source to generate a radiotherapy treatment beam; and
rotating the radiotherapy treatment beam about a patient.
Dempsey teaches
using the RF source to generate a radiotherapy treatment beam; and rotating the radiotherapy treatment beam about a patient (lines 46-55 in col 6; lines 53-67 in col 8).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the device/method/system of Liu by implementing the using the RF source to generate a radiotherapy treatment beam; and rotating the radiotherapy treatment beam about a patient as disclosed by Dempsey in order to facilitate delivery of the energized particle beam 304 to the target at different angles improving the sparing of healthy tissue and treatment plan quality as taught/suggested by Dempsey ([lines 53-67 in col 8]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ciresianu (US 20190314645 A1) see frequency control of a RF power source in [0043]
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RENAN LUQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-1044. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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/RENAN LUQUE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896