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 § 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 16-21, and 24-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Shelton(US 20200405403 A1) in view of Tan(US 20240025671 A1).
The applied reference Tan(US 20240025671 A1) has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2).
This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Regarding claim 16, Shelton discloses a robotic surgical system comprising :a robot arm to which a surgical instrument is attached, including a plurality of joints, a plurality of drives provided corresponding to the plurality of joints, respectively, and a plurality of detectors to detect movement amounts of the plurality of drives, respectively; an arm operation unit provided on the robot arm to operate the robot arm; a substrate provided in the robot arm or the arm operation unit and to which a signal output by the arm operation unit is input; and a controller(The robotic arms 13002, 13003 may be driven by electric drives that are connected to the control device 13004. According to an exemplification, the control device 13004 is configured to activate drives, for example, via a computer program, such that the robotic arms 13002, 13003 and the surgical assemblies 13010 and/or surgical instruments 13020 corresponding to the robotic arms 13002, 13003, execute a desired movement received through the manual input devices 13007, 13008. The control device 13004 may also be configured to regulate movement of the robotic arms 13002, 13003 and/or of the drives[0429]. Each of the robotic arms 13002, 13003 is made up of a plurality of members connected through joints and includes a surgical assembly 13010 connected to a distal end of a corresponding robotic arm 13002, 13003[0428]. In one aspect, a detection zone can be defined with respect to a component of the robotic surgical system itself, such as a robotic arm 13120. For example, in FIG. 70 the robotic surgical system includes a sensor 3388 (e.g., an image sensor) that is configured to detect the position of a surgical instrument 40250 or another surgical tool supported by a robotic arm 13120 with respect to a detection zone 3390 corresponding to the range of movement of the surgical instrument 40250[0741]); but fails to disclose wherein the controller is connected to the substrate by serial communication via a first wire line; and the controller is connected to the plurality of detectors by serial communication via a second wire line different from the first wire line.
However, Tan teaches “In this embodiment, the substrate conveying robot system 100 includes an analog sensor 11 provided on the arm 10, an analog input circuit substrate 12 provided on the arm 10 and connected to the analog sensor 11, and a digital input/output circuit substrate 13 connected to the substrate detection sensors 22. A serial communication connection is made between the robot controller 2, the analog input circuit substrate 12, the digital input/output circuit substrate 13, and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10 by daisy chain connection[0025]. The substrate detection sensors 22 are connected to the digital input circuit substrate 23 by wiring 23a[0022]. In this embodiment, a serial communication connection (see the wiring 30 in FIG. 2) is made between the robot controller 2 and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10[0024].
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Regarding claim 17, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, but Shelton fails to disclose wherein the controller is connected to the substrate by serial communication through an inside of the robot arm. However, Tan teaches “In this embodiment, a serial communication connection is made between the robot controller 2, the analog input circuit substrate 12, and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10[0026]”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Regarding claim 18, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, further comprising: an arm base to which the robot arm is attached; a positioner to adjust a position of the arm base; and a medical cart to move the positioner; wherein the controller is placed inside the medical cart(As described above, each robotic arm of the 9002a-9002e could be controlled by its own control device. Alternatively, the robotics arms 9002a-9002e can be controlled in conjunction by a configurable selective arm base unit. This base unit might be connected to each of the control devices described above, or the base unit could control each of the robotic arms 9002a-9002e of the robotic directly[0867]. As depicted in FIG. 102, a surgeon or clinician could be situated at a console to operate the one of the first and second controller 9006a-9006b. One surgeon could control the console for the first controller 9006a (e.g., that operates in a sterile field) while a different surgeon controls the console for the second controller 90006b (e.g., that operates in a non-sterile field). Each of the controllers 9006a-9006b could control a subset or all of the robotic arms based on a wired or a wireless connection, as applicable depending on the surgical procedure being performed[0869]. Upon determining a position or adjusted position of each of the robotic arms 9002a-9002e, as described in further detail below, the base unit control circuit could control the robotic arms 9002a-9002e to cooperatively interact so that the associated circular stapler and anvil are properly aligned to staple tissue for performing a surgical operation[0871]); but Shelton fails to disclose and the controller is connected to the substrate by serial communication via the first wire line through an inside of the robot arm and an outside of the positioner.
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However, Tan teaches “A serial communication connection is made between the robot controller 2, the analog input circuit substrate 12, the digital input/output circuit substrate 13, and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10 by daisy chain connection[0025]”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Regarding claim 19, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 18, further comprising: a control device accommodated in the medical cart to communicate with the controller and configured or programmed to control an entirety of the robotic surgical system(In various instances, a robotic surgical system can include a robotic control tower, which can house the control unit of the system. For example, the control unit 13004 of the robotic surgical system 13000 (FIG. 4) can be housed within a robotic control tower. The robotic control tower can include a robotic hub such as the robotic hub 122 (FIG. 2) or the robotic hub 222 (FIG. 9), for example[0458]).
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Regarding claim 20, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, wherein the controller is connected to the substrate by serial communication through a relay(Shelton - The core module 13420 serves as a central controller for the robotic surgical system 13000 and coordinates operations of all of the other modules 13430, 13440, 13450. For example, the core module 13420 maps control devices to the arms 13002, 13003, determines current status, performs all kinematics and frame transformations, and relays resulting movement commands[0436]. The angle position, alarm bits, and magnetic field information are transmitted over a standard serial communication interface, such as a serial peripheral interface (SPI) interface, to the microcontroller 461[0537]).
Tan further teaches “Specifically, the robot controller 2 and the analog input circuit substrate 12 are connected to each other by the wiring 30 for serial communication connection[0035]”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Regarding claim 21, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 20, wherein the relay is connected to at least one of the controller or the substrate by serial communication via the first wire line including flexible printed wiring(Carriage 41104 includes a printed circuit board 41109 in electrical communication with motor “M” of carriage 41104 to control an operation of motor “M” of carriage 41104[0656]. Examples of discrete hardware elements may include circuits and/or circuit elements such as logic gates, field effect transistors, bipolar transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and/or relays. In certain instances, the controller 14302 may include a hybrid circuit comprising discrete and integrated circuit elements or components on one or more substrates, for example. In certain instances, the controller 14302 may be a single core or multicore controller[1303]).
Tan further teaches “Specifically, the robot controller 2 and the analog input circuit substrate 12 are connected to each other by the wiring 30 for serial communication connection[0035]”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Regarding claim 24, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, wherein the arm operation unit includes at least one of: a joystick to control movement of the surgical instrument by the robot arm; a linear switch to control movement of the surgical instrument by the robot arm in a direction along a longitudinal direction of the surgical instrument; a pivot button to set a pivot position that serves as a fulcrum for movement of the surgical instrument attached to the robot arm; or an adjustment button to optimize a position of the robot arm; and at least one of a signal output by the joystick, a signal output by the linear switch, a signal output by the pivot button, or a signal output by the adjustment button is input to the substrate(Shelton - A schematic of a robotic surgical system 15000 is depicted in FIG. 22. The robotic surgical system 15000 includes a central control unit 15002, a surgeon's console 15012, a robot 15022 including one or more robotic arms 15024, and a primary display 15040 operably coupled to the control unit 15002. The surgeon's console 15012 includes a display 15014 and at least one manual input device 15016 (e.g., switches, buttons, touch screens, joysticks, gimbals, etc.) that allow the surgeon to telemanipulate the robotic arms 15024 of the robot 15022[0638]. The central control unit 15002 includes a processor 15004 operably coupled to a memory 15006. The processor 15004 includes a plurality of inputs and outputs for interfacing with the components of the robotic surgical system 15000. The processor 15004 can be configured to receive input signals and/or generate output signals to control one or more of the various components (e.g., one or more motors, sensors, and/or displays) of the robotic surgical system 15000. The output signals can include, and/or can be based upon, algorithmic instructions which may be pre-programmed and/or input by the surgeon or another clinician. The processor 15004 can be configured to accept a plurality of inputs from a user, such as the surgeon at the console 15012, and/or may interface with a remote system. The memory 15006 can be directly and/or indirectly coupled to the processor 15004 to store instructions and/or databases[0639]).
Regarding claim 25, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, wherein the arm operation unit includes :a mode switching button to switch between a mode for translationally moving the surgical instrument and a mode for rotationally moving the surgical instrument; and a mode indicator to indicate a selected mode; and a signal output by the mode switching button is input to the substrate, and is output from the substrate to the mode indicator(Shelton - The IDU holder 41102 of surgical assembly 41100 functions both to actuate a rotation of motor assembly 41114 of the IDU 41110 and to effect axial translation of IDU 41110 along the rail 40040 (FIG. 24) of the robotic arms 13002, 13003 (FIG. 4)[0655]. In accordance with an exemplification, the surgeon master module 13430 communicates button status and control device positions to the core module 13420 and includes a node controller 13432 that includes a state/mode manager 13434, a fail-over controller 13436, and a N-degree of freedom (“DOF”) actuator 13438[0438]. The surgeon's console 15012 includes a display 15014 and at least one manual input device 15016 (e.g., switches, buttons, touch screens, joysticks, gimbals, etc.) that allow the surgeon to telemanipulate the robotic arms 15024 of the robot 15022[0638]).
Regarding claim 26, Shelton in view of Tan teaches The robotic surgical system according to claim 16, wherein the surgical instrument includes a storage to store information about the surgical instrument; the surgical instrument is attached to the robot arm via an adapter; and at least one of the information about the surgical instrument from the storage, information about whether or not the surgical instrument is attached to the robot arm, or information about whether or not the adapter for attaching the surgical instrument is attached to the robot arm is input to the substrate(Shelton - A memory 13014 can be directly and/or indirectly coupled to the control device 13004 to store instructions and/or databases including pre-operative data from living being(s) and/or anatomical atlas(es). The memory 13014 can be part of, and/or or operatively coupled to, remote system “RS.”[0434]. The computer system 210 comprises a processor 244 and a network interface 245. The processor 244 is coupled to a communication module 247, storage 248, memory 249, non-volatile memory 250, and input/output interface 251 via a system bus[0511]. in order to provide a sterile operation area while using the surgical system, a barrier can be placed between the actuating portion of the surgical system (e.g., the robotic arm 13120) and the surgical Instruments (e.g., the tool assembly 13130) in the sterile surgical field. A sterile component, such as an instrument sterile adapter (ISA), can also be placed at the connecting interface between the tool assembly 13130 and the robotic arm 13120[0479]).
Regarding claim 27, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 16, wherein the robot arm includes: an arm portion; a first link placed at a distal end of the arm portion; a second link to which the arm operation unit is attached; and a translation mechanism to translate the second link with respect to the first link; and the substrate is placed in the second link(As depicted in FIG. 101, the robotic arm 20002 may include a plurality of movable links including a first link 20184, a second link 20186, a third link 20188, and a holder such as instrument holder 20006, which are coupled to each other by actuators allowing for movement of the robotic arm 20002 into various configurations. The links 20184, 20186, 20188 can be rotatable about respective joints. The first link 20184 can comprise a curved base 20185 configured to secure the robotic arm 20002 to a movable base. Movement can occur via actuation forces transferred from the motors via the IDU, as discussed above[0864].[Fig. 101]. he IDU can be supported or connected to a slider that is movably connected to a track (e.g., vertical rail 20040) of the robotic arm 20002. In this way, the slide may move, slide, or translate along a longitudinal axis defined by the track of the robotic arm 20002 upon a selective actuation by motors[0848]).
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Regarding claim 28, Shelton discloses a surgical robot comprising: a robot arm to which a surgical instrument is attached, including a plurality of joints, a plurality of drives provided corresponding to the plurality of joints, respectively, and a plurality of detectors to detect movement amounts of the plurality of drives, respectively; an arm operation unit provided on the robot arm to operate the robot arm; a substrate provided in the robot arm or the arm operation unit and to which a signal output by the arm operation unit is input; and a controller(The robotic arms 13002, 13003 may be driven by electric drives that are connected to the control device 13004. According to an exemplification, the control device 13004 is configured to activate drives, for example, via a computer program, such that the robotic arms 13002, 13003 and the surgical assemblies 13010 and/or surgical instruments 13020 corresponding to the robotic arms 13002, 13003, execute a desired movement received through the manual input devices 13007, 13008. The control device 13004 may also be configured to regulate movement of the robotic arms 13002, 13003 and/or of the drives[0429]. Each of the robotic arms 13002, 13003 is made up of a plurality of members connected through joints and includes a surgical assembly 13010 connected to a distal end of a corresponding robotic arm 13002, 13003[0428]. In one aspect, a detection zone can be defined with respect to a component of the robotic surgical system itself, such as a robotic arm 13120. For example, in FIG. 70 the robotic surgical system includes a sensor 3388 (e.g., an image sensor) that is configured to detect the position of a surgical instrument 40250 or another surgical tool supported by a robotic arm 13120 with respect to a detection zone 3390 corresponding to the range of movement of the surgical instrument 40250[0741]); but Shelton fails to disclose wherein the controller is connected to the substrate by serial communication via a first wire line; and the controller is connected to the plurality of detectors by serial communication via a second wire line different from the first wire line.
However, Tan teaches “In this embodiment, the substrate conveying robot system 100 includes an analog sensor 11 provided on the arm 10, an analog input circuit substrate 12 provided on the arm 10 and connected to the analog sensor 11, and a digital input/output circuit substrate 13 connected to the substrate detection sensors 22. A serial communication connection is made between the robot controller 2, the analog input circuit substrate 12, the digital input/output circuit substrate 13, and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10 by daisy chain connection[0025]. The wiring 23a is separate from wiring 30 described below. The substrate detection sensors 22 are connected to the digital input circuit substrate 23 by wiring 23a[0022]. In this embodiment, a serial communication connection (see the wiring 30 in FIG. 2) is made between the robot controller 2 and the digital input circuit substrate 23 through the inside of the arm 10[0024]”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the substrate of the robot system of Tan. Doing so would specify a substrate affixed to the robot arm in the system to connect to the controller and transmit robot arm parameters.
Claim(s) 22 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shelton in view of Tan and further in view of Kirihara(JP 2015085454 A).
Regarding claim 22, Shelton in view of Tan teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 21, wherein the robot arm includes: an arm portion; a first link placed at a distal end of the arm portion; a second link to which the arm operation unit is attached; and a translation mechanism to translate the second link with respect to the first link(Shelton - As depicted in FIG. 101, the robotic arm 20002 may include a plurality of movable links including a first link 20184, a second link 20186, a third link 20188, and a holder such as instrument holder 20006, which are coupled to each other by actuators allowing for movement of the robotic arm 20002 into various configurations. The links 20184, 20186, 20188 can be rotatable about respective joints. The first link 20184 can comprise a curved base 20185 configured to secure the robotic arm 20002 to a movable base. Movement can occur via actuation forces transferred from the motors via the IDU, as discussed above[0864].[Fig. 101]. The IDU can be supported or connected to a slider that is movably connected to a track (e.g., vertical rail 20040) of the robotic arm 20002. In this way, the slide may move, slide, or translate along a longitudinal axis defined by the track of the robotic arm 20002 upon a selective actuation by motors[0848]); but fails to disclose the relay includes a first relay placed on the first link; and the substrate is connected to the first relay by serial communication via the first wire line including the flexible printed wiring.
However, Kirihara teaches “Hereinafter, in a wiring structure in which wiring is routed from the joint 79 serving as the first member to the end effector via the link 80 serving as the second member, the FPC 68 (68 ′) is used using the relay substrate 61 provided on the link 80. The wiring relay unit that relays the wiring according to) will be described. In particular, the routing route of the plurality of FPCs 68 (68 ′) in the wiring relay unit, the installation position and direction of each connector as a connection unit corresponding to each FPC 68 (68 ′)(see attached translation, page 6, paragraph 4). FIG. 3, the electrical component 60 is disposed on the side surface (the other side surface) opposite to the one side surface of the joint 79 where the drive transmission unit 50 described above is installed. The electrical component 60 includes a wiring board 161, an end effector as an operating part attached to the terminal-side link 80 of the third first rotation shaft 95 (see FIG. 1) via the wiring board 161. FPC (Flexible Printed Circuits) as a flat cable wired to supply power to a motor that forms a driving source such as (not shown) or to send and receive control signals between the motor and the robot controller 68)( see attached translation, page 5, paragraph 4).
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the relay connections of the robot of Kirihara. Doing so would clarify the relay connections to be positioned on the links of the robot arm to allow for effective wire connections to travel the robot arm to allow for proper movement.
Regarding claim 23, Shelton in view of Tan and Kirihara teaches the robotic surgical system according to claim 22, but Shelton fails to disclose further comprising: an arm base to which the robot arm is attached; wherein the relay includes a second relay placed between the robot arm and the arm base; and the second relay is connected to the first relay and the controller by serial communication via the first wire line including cable wiring.
However, Kirihara teaches “A relay board provided on the second member, wherein a first connection portion to which the other end of the first flat cable from the reel is connected and a second end of the second flat cable from the reel are connected A second connection portion, a third connection portion connected to the first connection portion via a first connection wiring, and a fourth connection portion connected to the second connection portion via a second connection wiring(see attached translation, page 11, claims)(Fig. 5)(Fig. 1)”.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to configure the surgical modular robotic assembly of Shelton with the relay connections of the robot of Kirihara. Doing so would clarify the relay connections to be positioned on the links of the robot arm to allow for effective wire connections to travel the robot arm to allow for proper movement.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIA CATHERINE ANTHONY whose telephone number is (703)756-4514. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 4:30 pm, EST, M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CARL LAYNO can be reached at (571) 272-4949. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARIA CATHERINE ANTHONY/Examiner, Art Unit 3796
/CARL H LAYNO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3796