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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
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The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-24 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 4-14 and 19 of U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 encompasses all the limitations of the pending application.
With respect to claim 1, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses:
Pending claim 1
Patented claim 4
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:
The method of claim 1
generate a volumetric model of at least a portion of the patient's tooth from a three-dimensional (3D) intraoral scan including both near-IR wavelength data and visible light wavelength data, wherein the volumetric model includes a representation of an outer surface of the patient's tooth and an internal structure of a region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
generating or receiving a volumetric model of the at least the portion of the patient's tooth from a three-dimensional (3D) oral scanner operating in both a near-IR wavelength and a visible light wavelength, wherein the volumetric model includes the representation of the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine
estimate values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine
generate a visible light volumetric model from the volumetric model by assigning the estimated values to voxels of the visible light volumetric model that correspond to the volumetric model
adding the estimated values to the volumetric model to form the visible light volumetric model
Although claim 4 does not disclose implementing the method on a non-transitory computer readable medium, it would have been obvious to implement the method on such a medium, as in other embodiments, in order to display an image in computer graphics.
With respect to claim 2, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to form the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model (Patented claim 1, making the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model).
With respect to claim 3, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to make the dental restoration by generating instructions for making the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model wherein the dental restoration has surface and internal optical properties derived from the visible light volumetric model (Patented claim 1, wherein surface and internal structure of the dental restoration have optical properties based on the visible light volumetric model).
With respect to claim 4, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive the volumetric model of at least the portion of the patient's tooth, wherein the volumetric model comprises a plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 4, light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine).
With respect to claim 5, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate values for two or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 5).
With respect to claim 6, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering at three or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 6).
With respect to claim 7, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the three or more visible light wavelengths include one or more red, green and blue wavelength (Patented claim 7).
With respect to claim 8, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value (Patented claim 8).
With respect to claim 9, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to set the values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine to a predetermined prior value determined by parametric estimation (Patented claim 9).
With respect to claim 10, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by iterating to determine the value that approximates optical properties based on the position of the camera and the reconstructed volume compared to RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model (Patented claim 10).
With respect to claim 11, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value determined from a population of representative patients, wherein the prior value is selected using one or more of: measured RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model, volume information, and patient information (Patented claim 11).
With respect to claim 12, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein volume information comprises path length from the surface of the tooth to the dentin through the enamel (Patented claim 12).
With respect to claim 13, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the patient information comprises one or more of: patient age, gender, estimated jaw shape (Patented claim 13).
With respect to claim 14, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to divide the volumetric model into a plurality of sub-regions before estimating the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 14).
With respect to claim 15, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses:
Pending claim 15
Patented claim 19
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to
form a visible light volumetric model from intraoral scan data, the intraoral scan data comprising near-infrared (NIRI) data, wherein the visible light volumetric model is formed by: estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine based on NIRI data
generate or receive a volumetric model of at least a portion of the patient's tooth from a three-dimensional (3D) oral scanner operating in both a near-IR wavelength and a visible light wavelength, wherein the volumetric model includes a representation of an outer surface of the patient's tooth and a region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine; estimate optical properties of the patient's tooth using two or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of a plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the outer surface of the patient's tooth based on visible light wavelength data
estimate optical properties of the patient's tooth using two or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of a plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
form the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model
add the estimated optical properties to the volumetric model to form a visible light volumetric model
With respect to claim 16, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses:
Pending claim 16
Patented claim 4
A system, the system comprising: an intraoral scanner; one or more processors; and a memory comprising instructions for execution by the one or more processors for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to
The method of claim 1
generate a volumetric model of at least a portion of the patient's tooth from a three-dimensional (3D) intraoral scan including both near-IR wavelength data and visible light wavelength data, wherein the volumetric model includes a representation of an outer surface of the patient's tooth and an internal structure of a region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
generating or receiving a volumetric model of the at least the portion of the patient's tooth from a three-dimensional (3D) oral scanner operating in both a near-IR wavelength and a visible light wavelength, wherein the volumetric model includes the representation of the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine
estimate values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine
estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine
generate a visible light volumetric model from the volumetric model by assigning the estimated values to voxels of the visible light volumetric model that correspond to the volumetric model
adding the estimated values to the volumetric model to form the visible light volumetric model
Although claim 4 does not disclose implementing the method on a system, it would have been obvious to implement the method on such a system, as in other embodiments, in order to display an image in computer graphics.
With respect to claim 17, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to form the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model (Patented claim 1, making the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model).
With respect to claim 18, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to make the dental restoration by generating instructions for making the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model wherein the dental restoration has surface and internal optical properties derived from the visible light volumetric model (Patented claim 1, wherein surface and internal structure of the dental restoration have optical properties based on the visible light volumetric model).
With respect to claim 19, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to receive the volumetric model of at least the portion of the patient's tooth, wherein the volumetric model comprises a plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 4, light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine).
With respect to claim 20, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value (Patented claim 8).
With respect to claim 21, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to set the values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine to a predetermined prior value determined by parametric estimation (Patented claim 9).
With respect to claim 22, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by iterating to determine the value that approximates optical properties based on the position of the camera and the reconstructed volume compared to RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model (Patented claim 10).
With respect to claim 23, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value determined from a population of representative patients, wherein the prior value is selected using one or more of: measured RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model, volume information, and patient information (Patented claim 11).
With respect to claim 24, U.S. Patent No. 11,633,268 discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to divide the volumetric model into a plurality of sub-regions before estimating the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Patented claim 14).
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.
Claim(s) 1-11 and 15-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oota et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20100253773) in view of Lovely (U.S. PGPUB 20070134615), Jelonek et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20040167646), and further in view of Van Den Braber et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190066537).
With respect to claim 1, Oota et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor (paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 is stored in a CPU (central processing unit, not shown in the drawing) of the external device 20… Functions of the components of the image processing unit 40 will be later described in detail. The image processing unit executes instructions on a computer readable medium) for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to:
generate a volumetric model of at least a portion of the patient's tooth (paragraph 72, The picked up image (two-dimensional still image) data pieces are recorded in the image recording unit 42 in order to convert into three-dimensional images using the triangulation method, paragraph 79, The obtained three-dimensional coordinates are recorded in the three-dimensional image recording unit 45 as such as point group data or STL (Stereo Lithography) data) from a three-dimensional (3D) intraoral scan including visible light wavelength data (paragraph 60, Referring to FIG. 6, the light projecting unit 10 is provided with an LED light source 24 as one example of a first light source that irradiates light in a wavelength of 500 to 565 nm (green), an LED light source 25 as one example of a second light source that irradiates light in a wavelength of 625 to 740 nm (red)), wherein the volumetric model includes a representation of an outer surface of the patient's tooth and an internal structure of a region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (paragraph 60, The light projecting unit 10 is a light source for clearly taking an image of the object to be measured 21 including at least a tooth 22 within the oral cavity of the patient, paragraph 63, As shown in the table 1, as the enamel has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 500 to 565 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the enamel by irradiating the light in this wavelength. As the dentin and the gingiva has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 625 to 740 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the dentin and the gingiva by irradiating the light in this wavelength). However, Oota et al. do not expressly disclose including both near-IR wavelength data and visible light wavelength data; estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine; and generating a visible light volumetric model from the volumetric model by assigning the estimated values to voxels of the visible light volumetric model that correspond to the volumetric model.
Lovely, who also deals with dental imaging systems, discloses a method for including both a near-IR wavelength and a visible light wavelength (paragraph 87, The interrogation beam can comprise two different wavelengths of light, as in the systems of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, except that one wavelength is infrared (long wavelength) and the other is visible (short wavelength)).
Oota et al. and Lovely are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of including both a near-IR wavelength and a visible light wavelength, as taught by Lovely, to the Oota et al. system, because both the long wavelength and short wavelength components of the interrogation beam come from the same scanner, the two pictures will automatically be registered geometrically, with no special alignment and the combination of the two images will show the locations of the demineralization in relation to the stains (paragraph 87 of Lovely).
Jelonek et al., who also deal with dental restoration, disclose a method for estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth (paragraph 35, For each voxel, the light rays of different wavelengths entering the voxel from neighboring voxels are absorbed, diffused, reflected, refracted and transmitted to neighboring voxels according to the material properties of the material employed in this voxel. Each voxel is thus parameterized with absorption, diffusion, reflectance, refraction and transmittance coefficients that are dependent on the wavelength of the light entering the voxel).
Oota et al., Lovely, and Jelonek et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method for estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth, as taught by Jelonek et al., to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely system, because given some known illumination, the reflected light can be calculated numerically (paragraph 35 of Jelonek et al.), thus facilitate visualizing the dental model.
Van Den Braber et al., who also deal with dental imaging systems, disclose a method for estimating values for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient’s tooth and the region of the enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (paragraph 34, different voxels are assigned different density values depending on their location. For example, voxels located towards the outer shell of the 3D model may be assigned enamel density values, but voxels located further towards the centre of the tooth may be assigned a density value consistent with dentin, which is softer than enamel); and
generating a visible light volumetric model from the volumetric model by assigning the estimated values to voxels of the visible light volumetric model that correspond to the volumetric model (paragraph 34, the 3D model has density data consistent with the structure of a tooth so that the simulation of drilling into the tooth is realistic. Once density values have been assigned, the 3D model can be loaded onto a dental simulation machine 100, paragraph 37, a dental technician, mentor or tutor may review the image provided by the STL file to determine that only one of a plurality of teeth scanned is needed. FIG. 7 shows a 3D model 700 of a set of three teeth which has been generated from an STL file which included further teeth).
Oota et al., Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of estimating values for voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine; and generating a visible light volumetric model from the volumetric model by assigning the estimated values to voxels of the visible light volumetric model that correspond to the volumetric model, as taught by Van Den Braber et al., to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely and Jelonek et al. system, because the 3D model has density data consistent with the structure of a tooth so that the simulation of drilling into the tooth is realistic (paragraph 34 of Van Den Braber et al.) and colour data may also be applied to voxels to more closely represent the interior of a tooth (paragraph 35 of Van Den Braber et al.).
With respect to claim 2, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to form the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model (Oota et al.: paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 converts the transferred data of the two-dimensional image into data of three-dimensional coordinates, and obtains three-dimensional image data of the object to be measured 21 for designing and producing a dental prosthesis).
With respect to claim 3, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to make the dental restoration by generating instructions for making the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model (Oota et al.: paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 converts the transferred data of the two-dimensional image into data of three-dimensional coordinates, and obtains three-dimensional image data of the object to be measured 21 for designing and producing a dental prosthesis) wherein the dental restoration has surface and internal optical properties derived from the visible light volumetric model (Oota et al.: paragraph 63, Therefore, the intra-oral measurement system according to the first embodiment is configured to use the two LED light source 24, 25 respectively irradiating the light in two different wavelengths, thereby obtaining the clear images for all of the enamel, the dentin, and the gingiva). The enamel and dentin have corresponding surface and internal optical properties.
With respect to claim 4, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to receive the volumetric model of at least the portion of the patient's tooth, wherein the volumetric model comprises a plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Van Den Braber et al.: paragraph 34, different voxels are assigned different density values depending on their location. For example, voxels located towards the outer shell of the 3D model may be assigned enamel density values, but voxels located further towards the centre of the tooth may be assigned a density value consistent with dentin, which is softer than enamel).
With respect to claim 5, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate values for two or more of: light absorption, light reflection (Oota et al.: paragraph 63, as the enamel has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 500 to 565 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the enamel by irradiating the light in this wavelength. As the dentin and the gingiva has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 625 to 740 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the dentin and the gingiva by irradiating the light in this wavelength), light transmission (Oota et al.: paragraph 99, for each pixel in the G signal image and the R signal image, the luminance value of the pixel is compared with the calculated threshold value for the determination of the region, luminance referring to emitted, or transmitted light), and light scattering for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth (Van Den Braber et al.: paragraph 34, different voxels are assigned different density values depending on their location. For example, voxels located towards the outer shell of the 3D model may be assigned enamel density values, but voxels located further towards the centre of the tooth may be assigned a density value consistent with dentin, which is softer than enamel).
With respect to claim 6, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering at three or more visible light wavelengths (Oota et al.: paragraph 63, as the enamel has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 500 to 565 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the enamel by irradiating the light in this wavelength. As the dentin and the gingiva has a higher surface reflectivity to the light in the wavelength of 625 to 740 nm, it is possible to obtain a clear image of the dentin and the gingiva by irradiating the light in this wavelength, Van Den Braber et al.: paragraph 86, a visible light image of the tooth or a portion thereof is produced by the camera assembly 1208. In other examples, the camera assembly can be arranged to produce an image of the tooth in other wavelength ranges from 400 nm to about 2000 nm) for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (Van Den Braber et al.: paragraph 34, different voxels are assigned different density values depending on their location. For example, voxels located towards the outer shell of the 3D model may be assigned enamel density values, but voxels located further towards the centre of the tooth may be assigned a density value consistent with dentin, which is softer than enamel).
With respect to claim 7, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the three or more visible light wavelengths include one or more red, green (Oota et al.: paragraph 60, Referring to FIG. 6, the light projecting unit 10 is provided with an LED light source 24 as one example of a first light source that irradiates light in a wavelength of 500 to 565 nm (green), an LED light source 25 as one example of a second light source that irradiates light in a wavelength of 625 to 740 nm (red)) and blue wavelength (Van Den Braber et al.: paragraph 86, a visible light image of the tooth or a portion thereof is produced by the camera assembly 1208. In other examples, the camera assembly can be arranged to produce an image of the tooth in other wavelength ranges from 400 nm to about 2000 nm, blue wavelength is within this range).
With respect to claim 8, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value (Oota et al.: paragraph 62, The table 1 shows tabulated results of visual conditions of the tooth 22 and a gingiva 23 in the oral cavity in the corresponding wavelength of the projected light, based on various experimentation and documents).
With respect to claim 9, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to set the values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine to a predetermined prior value determined by parametric estimation (Oota et al.: paragraph 110, Referring to FIG. 11C, it can be seen that the histogram of the luminance values in the G signal image has three peak gray levels 33-35. In the G signal image, the luminance decreases in an order of the tooth 22, the gingiva 23, and the surrounding region due to a difference in the surface reflectivities).
With respect to claim 10, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by iterating to determine the value that approximates optical properties based on the position of the camera and the reconstructed volume compared to RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model (Oota et al.: paragraph 67, Then, the oral scanner 1 is moved so that the object to be measured 21 is correctly displayed in the display unit 50, and it is confirmed whether or not a video image of the displayed object to be measured 21 is in a good condition (Step S2). At this time, it is possible to adjust an imaging position of the oral scanner 1 more correctly with the object to be measured 21, paragraph 68, Whether the video image of the object to be measured 21 is in a good condition or not is judged by whether or not an average gray level of the object to be measured 21 (the gingiva 23, for example) is no smaller than 40 gray levels when an LED light source with an output of 3 W is used as the light projecting unit 10 and luminance values are expressed in 256 gray levels).
With respect to claim 11, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions cause the processor to estimate the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for each of the plurality of voxels defining the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine by setting the value to a predetermined prior value determined from a population of representative patients, wherein the prior value is selected using one or more of: measured RGB data recorded when scanning the patient's teeth with an intraoral scanner to generate the volumetric model, volume information, and patient information (Oota et al.: paragraph 62, The table 1 shows tabulated results of visual conditions of the tooth 22 and a gingiva 23 in the oral cavity in the corresponding wavelength of the projected light, based on various experimentation and documents). Various experimentation and documents implies a population of representative patients for obtaining historical data.
With respect to claim 15, Oota et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for execution by a processor (paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 is stored in a CPU (central processing unit, not shown in the drawing) of the external device 20… Functions of the components of the image processing unit 40 will be later described in detail. The image processing unit executes instructions on a computer readable medium) for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to form a visible light volumetric model from intraoral scan data (paragraph 72, The picked up image (two-dimensional still image) data pieces are recorded in the image recording unit 42 in order to convert into three-dimensional images using the triangulation method, paragraph 79, The obtained three-dimensional coordinates are recorded in the three-dimensional image recording unit 45 as such as point group data or STL (Stereo Lithography) data) and form the dental restoration from the visible light volumetric model (paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 converts the transferred data of the two-dimensional image into data of three-dimensional coordinates, and obtains three-dimensional image data of the object to be measured 21 for designing and producing a dental prosthesis). However, Oota et al. do not expressly disclose the intraoral scan data comprises near-infrared (NIRI) data, wherein the visible light volumetric model is formed by: estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine based on NIRI data; and estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the outer surface of the patient's tooth based on visible light wavelength data.
Lovely, who also deals with dental imaging systems, discloses a method wherein the intraoral scan data comprises near-infrared (NIRI) data (paragraph 87, The interrogation beam can comprise two different wavelengths of light, as in the systems of FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, except that one wavelength is infrared (long wavelength) and the other is visible (short wavelength)).
Oota et al. and Lovely are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the intraoral scan data comprises a near-infrared (NIRI) data, as taught by Lovely, to the Oota et al. system, because both the long wavelength and short wavelength components of the interrogation beam come from the same scanner, the two pictures will automatically be registered geometrically, with no special alignment and the combination of the two images will show the locations of the demineralization in relation to the stains (paragraph 87 of Lovely).
Jelonek et al., who also deal with dental restoration, disclose a method wherein the visible light volumetric model is formed by: estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the outer surface of the patient's tooth based on visible light wavelength data (paragraph 35, For each voxel, the light rays of different wavelengths entering the voxel from neighboring voxels are absorbed, diffused, reflected, refracted and transmitted to neighboring voxels according to the material properties of the material employed in this voxel. Each voxel is thus parameterized with absorption, diffusion, reflectance, refraction and transmittance coefficients that are dependent on the wavelength of the light entering the voxel).
Oota et al., Lovely, and Jelonek et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the visible light volumetric model is formed by: estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the outer surface of the patient's tooth based on visible light wavelength data, as taught by Jelonek et al., to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely system, because given some known illumination, the reflected light can be calculated numerically (paragraph 35 of Jelonek et al.), thus facilitate visualizing the dental model.
Van Den Braber et al., who also deal with dental imaging systems, disclose a method for estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine (paragraph 34, different voxels are assigned different density values depending on their location. For example, voxels located towards the outer shell of the 3D model may be assigned enamel density values, but voxels located further towards the centre of the tooth may be assigned a density value consistent with dentin, which is softer than enamel).
Oota et al., Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of estimating values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths, for voxels of the visible light volumetric model associated with the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine based on NIRI data, as suggested by Van Den Braber et al., to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely and Jelonek et al. system, which uses NIRI data, because the 3D model has density data consistent with the structure of a tooth so that the simulation of drilling into the tooth is realistic (paragraph 34 of Van Den Braber et al.) and colour data may also be applied to voxels to more closely represent the interior of a tooth (paragraph 35 of Van Den Braber et al.).
With respect to claim 16, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose a system (Oota et al.: Fig. 5) the system comprising: an intraoral scanner (Oota et al.: intra-oral measurement device 1 in Fig. 5); one or more processors; and a memory comprising instructions for execution by the one or more processors (Oota et al.: paragraph 58, The image processing unit 40 is stored in a CPU (central processing unit, not shown in the drawing) of the external device 20… Functions of the components of the image processing unit 40 will be later described in detail. The image processing unit executes instructions on a memory) for preparing a dental restoration having optical properties matching optical properties of a patient's tooth, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the one or more processors to execute the method of claim 1; see rationale for rejection of claim 1.
With respect to claim 17, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 2; see rationale for rejection of claim 2.
With respect to claim 18, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 3; see rationale for rejection of claim 3.
With respect to claim 19, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 4; see rationale for rejection of claim 4.
With respect to claim 20, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 8; see rationale for rejection of claim 8.
With respect to claim 21, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 9; see rationale for rejection of claim 9.
With respect to claim 22, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 10; see rationale for rejection of claim 10.
With respect to claim 23, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method of claim 11; see rationale for rejection of claim 11.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oota et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20100253773) in view of Lovely (U.S. PGPUB 20070134615), Jelonek et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20040167646), Van Den Braber et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190066537), and further in view of Lv et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20160367336).
With respect to claim 12, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11. However, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. do not expressly disclose volume information comprises path length from the surface of the tooth to the dentin through the enamel.
Lv et al., who also deal with dental imaging systems, disclose a method wherein the volume information comprises path length from the surface of the tooth to the dentin through the region of the enamel (paragraph 143, registering the two sets of data (i.e., the three-dimensional surface scanning data and the three-dimensional volume data) and unifying the data in the same coordinate system, extracting edges of a tooth preparation, defining design parameters of the tooth preparation, and separating a dental enamel model portion, a dentin model portion and a dental pulp cavity model portion, so as to obtain data of the virtual tooth preparation model). The surface scanning information, enamel portion, and dentin portion volume information comprises path length, or thickness of the enamel and dentin portions.
Oota et al., Lovely, Jelonek et al., Van Den Braber et al., and Lv are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein volume information comprises path length from the surface of the tooth to the dentin through the enamel, as taught by Lv, to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. system, because this would obtain data of the virtual tooth preparation model, wherein the extraction of the edges of the tooth preparation can be conducted manually on a computer screen or conducted automatically through software programming (paragraph 143 of Lv et al.).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oota et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20100253773) in view of Lovely (U.S. PGPUB 20070134615), Jelonek et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20040167646), Van Den Braber et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190066537), and further in view of Pesach et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20150348320).
With respect to claim 13, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11. However, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. do not expressly disclose the patient information comprises one or more of: patient age, gender, estimated jaw shape.
Pesach et al., who also deal with dental imaging systems, disclose a method wherein the patient information comprises one or more of: patient age, gender, estimated jaw shape (paragraph 123, additional camera/s provide jaw information for prosthetic design (e.g., neighboring teeth topography and/or opposite jaw tooth/teeth topography with respect to the prepared tooth is in some embodiments, used to guide prosthetic dimensions)).
Oota et al., Lovely, Jelonek et al., Van Den Braber et al., and Pesach et al. are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method wherein the patient information comprises one or more of: patient age, gender, estimated jaw shape, as taught by Pesach et al., to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. system, because this would improve orientation accuracy of the imager in relation to tooth for image matching (paragraph 123 of Pesach et al.), thus result in a more accurate model.
Claim(s) 14 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Oota et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20100253773) in view of Lovely (U.S. PGPUB 20070134615), Jelonek et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20040167646), Van Den Braber et al. (U.S. PGPUB 20190066537), and further in view of Mah (U.S. PGPUB 20100105010).
With respect to claim 14, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. disclose the non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1. However, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. do not expressly disclose the instructions cause the processor to divide the volumetric model into a plurality of sub-regions before estimating the value for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the patient's dentine.
Mah, who also deals with dental imaging systems, disclose a method for dividing the volumetric model into a plurality of sub-regions before estimating the values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine (paragraph 17, digital image of the patient's mouth region is divided into a plurality of discrete regions--based on criteria specified by the individual who is conducting the segmentation--such that portions thereof may then be reassembled into an extracted object from the volumetric data).
Oota et al., Lovely, Jelonek et al., Van Den Braber et al., and Mah are in the same field of endeavor, namely tooth visualization for computer graphics.
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to apply the method of dividing the volumetric model into a plurality of sub- regions before estimating the values for one or more of: light absorption, light reflection, light transmission, and light scattering of one or more visible light wavelengths for the outer surface of the patient's tooth and the region of enamel extending from the outer surface of the patient's tooth to the dentine, as taught by Mah to the Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., and Van Den Braber et al. system, because this would allow individual analysis of regions separated by predefined shapes, volumes, a three-dimensional area within a set of volumetric data, color-related criteria (paragraph 17 of Mah).
With respect to claim 24, Oota et al. as modified by Lovely, Jelonek et al., Van Den Braber et al., and Mah disclose the system of claim 16 for executing the method implemented on claim 14; see rationale for rejection of claim 14.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. PGPUB 20170011535 to Abkai et al. for a method of calculating volumetric data sets from a dental restoration
U.S. PGPUB 20120065755 to Steingart et al. for a method of creating a voxel-based 3D model
U.S. PGPUB 20100119996 to Kaigler, SR. for a method of creating a dental appliance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW GUS YANG whose telephone number is (571)272-5514. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9 AM - 5:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kent Chang can be reached at (571)272-7667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANDREW G YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2614
2/19/26