DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-4, 6-12, 14-24, 26, and 28 are pending.
Claims 5, 13, 25, 27 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s argument with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 1, 16, and all dependent claims therefrom has been fully considered but it is not persuasive. See discussion below.
Applicant’s argument with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 11, 22, and all dependent claims therefrom has been fully considered and it is persuasive. See discussion below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-4, 6-10, 14-21, 23-24, 26, and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bukesov et al. (US 20210038304 A1, 2021-02-11) (hereinafter “Bukesov”).
Regarding claim 1, Bukesov teaches medical system (and a method of use), comprising: an elongate medical device, comprising one or more optical fibers extending between a proximal end and a distal end (e.g.., [0101]-[0103]; Figs. 4A, 4B) the elongate medical device configured for advancement along a urinary tract of a patient (e.g., [0079], [0101]); a console coupled with the elongate medical device at the proximal end, the console including one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon logic that, when executed by the one or more processors ([0086], [0092], [0097], [0147], [0153][, 0156]; Figs. 2, 12), causes operations including: projecting a coherent light away from the distal end onto a kidney stone within the patient ([0066]; Figs. 1, 2); receiving a reaction light signal emanating from the kidney stone in response to the coherent light ([0066]; Figs. 1, 2); and processing the reaction light signal to determine therefrom a material composition of the kidney stone, wherein the one or more of the optical fibers includes a fiber optic laser ([0066], [0087], [0088]; Fig. 2, 3A, 3B), the coherent light projected from a first subset of optical fibers is configured to cause a lithotripsy process by fragmentation of the kidney stone, and the coherent light projected from a second subset of optical fibers is configured to induce the reaction light signal, wherein the coherent light projected from the second subset of optical fibers occurs separately to the lithotripsy process (e.g., [0066], [0087], [0088], [0094], [0126] and esp. [0078] (“Alternatively, the spectroscopic sensor 242 may be operatively coupled to the first optical pathway 108 of the first laser system 102 and/or the second optical pathway 118 of the second laser system 104 and thereby detect spectroscopic signals via the first optical pathway 108 and/or the second optical pathway 118.”) (as recited in claims 1 and 16); wherein the elongate medical device is configured for advancement along a working channel of a ureteroscope (e.g., [0102]) (as recited in claims 2 and 26); wherein the projected coherent light is configured to cause fragmentation of the kidney stone (e.g., [0060], [0101]) (as recited in claim 3); wherein the coherent light is projected from a plurality of optical fibers (e.g., [0126]) (as recited in claim 4); wherein the coherent light includes a plurality of wavelengths (e.g., [0069]-[0073], [0103]) (as recited in claims 6 and 17); wherein the reaction light signal includes a plurality of wavelengths (e.g., [0087]-[0088]) (as recited in claims 7 and 18); wherein the reaction light signal is defined at least partially by reflections of the coherent light (e.g., [0066], [0087]-[0088]) (as recited in claims 8 and 19); wherein: processing the reaction light signal includes defining a spectroscopy signature for the kidney stone based on the reaction light signal, and the spectroscopy signature includes a plurality of wavelengths, each wavelength having a corresponding intensity (e.g., [0081]-[0083], [0086-[0088]) (as recited in claims 9 and 20); wherein processing the reaction light signal includes: comparing the spectroscopy signature with one or more spectroscopy signatures stored in memory, the spectroscopy signatures stored in memory representing different material compositions of kidney stones, and as a result of the comparison, determining the material composition of the kidney stone (e.g., [0081]-[0083], [0086-[0088]) (as recited in claims 10 and 21); wherein the reaction light signal is received through one or more of the optical fibers (e.g., [0078], [0125]) (as recited in claim 28); wherein projecting the coherent light to cause fragmentation of the kidney stone is performed in accordance with operational settings, the operational settings including one or more of a pulse frequency, a pulse duration, or a wavelength of the coherent light (e.g., [0066], [0087], [0088], [0094], [0126]) (as recited in claims 14 and 23); wherein at least one of the operational settings is defined at least partially based on the determined material composition of the kidney stone (e.g., [0066], [0087], [0088], [0094], [0126]) (as recited in claims 15 and 24).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-12 and 22 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The prior art of record does not teach or suggest the claimed invention of the medical system (and method of use) comprising the recited elements/steps, including wherein the operations further include: receiving input information, the input information including an independent composition assessment of the kidney stone after removal from the patient; relating the input information to the spectroscopy signature; and combining the spectroscopy signature with at least at least one spectroscopy signature stored in memory to enhance an accuracy of the at least one spectroscopy signature stored in memory (as recited in claims 11 and 22).
For these reasons the claims are believed to be allowable over the art of record.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SCOTT T LUAN whose telephone number is (571)270-1860. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm, M-F (generally).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Jackson, can be reached on 571-272-4697. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
Scott Luan
/SCOTT LUAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3792
Prosecution Insights