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 Status
Claims 1-15 are pending.
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.
Claims 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sachdeva et al (US 20140379356 A1) hereafter Sachdeva in view of Golay (US 20160012182 A1) hereafter Golay
Regarding claim 1, Sachdeva teaches an arrangement of at least one orthodontic treatment planning software (1) to create a treatment plan (15) installed on at least one server (2) (Para 0060, may be resident on a file server), whereby the local computer (4) or mobile device (5)(Para 0061, user interface 14) and the at least one server (2) are in signal-conducting data connection (6) or can be brought into a signal-conducting data connection (6) (Para 0067, the system 100 includes software routines and appropriate hardware devices for transmitting the virtual patient model or some subset thereof over a computer network), wherein: the at least one client (3) comprises a user interface (7) in the form of a stand-alone web browser-based or app-based treatment plan viewer (8) configured to visualize at least one virtual representation (9) of at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of at least part of a dentition (11) the at least one server (2) and the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) are spatially separated from each other(Para 0021, The workstation further provides software tools for aligning two dimensional image data, such as X-ray data, with a virtual three-dimensional models of the teeth), whereby the at least one server (2) comprises a first data transmission interface (12) for sending and receiving data via a data network (32) (Para 0059, The memory 22 may also store other sets 27 of digital image data, including digitized X-rays, MRI or ultrasound images, CT scanner etc., from other imaging devices 36) and the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) comprises a second data transmission interface (13) for sending and receiving data via a data network (32) (Para 0111, The computer or workstation 10 (FIG. 1) that includes the software for generating the patient model), whereby the first data transmission interface (12) and the second data transmission interface (13) are separated from each other (Para 0059, The other imaging devices need not be located at the location or site of the workstation system 100), and the at least one client (3) is configured to transmit at least one digital data record (14) of a modified three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or with information for a desired treatment plan (15) of the at least part of the dentition (11) by means of the second data transmission interface (13) of the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) to the first data transmission interface (12) of the at least one server (2) (Para 0059, the imaging of the patient 34 with one or other imaging devices 36 could be performed in a remotely located clinic or hospital, in which case the image data is obtained by the workstation 100 over the Internet 37 or some other communications medium, and stored in the memory 22).
Sachdeva does not appear to explicitly teach at least one local client (3) in the form of a plug-in running on a processing unit (30) of a local computer (4) or a mobile device (5).
In analogous art, Golay at least one local client (3) in the form of a plug-in running on a processing unit (30) of a local computer (4) or a mobile device (5) (Para 0047, A cloud system refers to a system which is server-based, and in which the software clients are very thin—possibly just a web browser, a web browser with a plug-in, or a mobile or phone application, etc.). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sachdeva to include the teaching of Golay. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to implement this modification in order to implement a dental imaging system, as taught by Golay (Abs, A 3D dental imaging system which is used for producing and transferring 3D volumes of a patient from a remote cloud storage device and which includes a 3D volume imaging software for displaying cone beam images).
Regarding claim 2, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, whereby the at least one client (3) is free of any orthodontic treatment planning software (1) and/or configured to transmit the at least one digital data record (14) comprising information suitable to amend the treatment plan (15) to the at least one server (2), whereby it is particularly preferred that the at least one digital data record (14) is based on a modification of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) within the at least one client (3) and/or comprises information for a desired treatment plan (15) for the at least part of the dentition (11) (Sachdeva, Para 0096, This process may be optimized by using virtual template tooth roots, which are modified to fit the X-ray data, and then this combined 3D root model is combined with crown data to produce a complete set of 3D teeth, including roots).
Regarding claim 3, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one client (3) is configured to facilitate a user of the at least one client (3) to approve the treatment plan (15) or the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or to generate a desired treatment plan (15) by adding notes (16) to the treatment plan (15) and/or add at least one attachment (17) to the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or move objects (18), preferable teeth (20), of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or generate interproximal reduction on the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or adjust the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or move a plurality of objects (18) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) simultaneously and/or add cutouts or slits to the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) (Sachdeva, Para 0137, a proposed treatment plan is prepared and furnished to the practitioner, and after the plan is approved, the appliance manufacturer coordinates the furnishing of appliance design data to any designated appliance manufacturers that are used to furnish the custom appliance).
Regarding claim 4, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one digital data record (14) comprises supplementary information of the at least part of the dentition (11), a virtual representation (9) of a desired orthodontic condition and/or a desired treatment plan (15), whereby it is particularly preferred that the at least one digital data record (14) is in the form of an OBJ file, an STL file, a CAD file and/or a CSV file (Sachdeva, Para 0125, The knowledge database includes a 3D Geometry data file 316 that stores the 3D geometry data of the virtual patient model).
Regarding claim 5, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one client (3) is configured to upload at least one input digital data record (19), particularly preferred an OBJ file, an STL file, a CAD file and/or a CSV file, for visualizing the at least one visual representation (9) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or at least one treatment plan (15) of the at least part of the dentition (11), whereby it is particularly preferred that the at least one client (3) is configured to simultaneously upload a plurality of input digital data records (14), whereby each input digital data record (14) comprises information about a movement step of a treatment plan (15) of the at least part of the dentition (11) (Golay, Para 0009, The local device automatically uploads the anonymized 3D medical image data to a cloud server over a network based on a set of one or more rules, using a network connection established via an internet port of the local device). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Sachdeva to include the teaching of Golay. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to implement this modification in order to implement a dental imaging system, as taught by Golay (Abs, A 3D dental imaging system which is used for producing and transferring 3D volumes of a patient from a remote cloud storage device and which includes a 3D volume imaging software for displaying cone beam images).
Regarding claim 6, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the at least one digital data record (14) and/or the at least one input digital data record (19) comprises supplementary information of the at least part of the dentition (11), preferably in the form of an intraoral scan, a scan, an x-ray, a photograph, patient data, user comments, a number of trays, comments on interproximal reductions, a number or a location of attachments (17) and/or a number of steps of the treatment plan (15) (Sachdeva, Para 0015, the patient's clinical history, medical history, dental history, and orthodontic history as well as 2D photographs, 2D radio graphic images, CT scans, 2D and 3D scanned images, ultrasonic scanned images, and in general, non-invasive and optionally invasive images, plus video, audio, and a variety of communication records, such notes, records of office visits, patient letters or communications, etc).
Regarding claim 7, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the at least one client (3) is configured to identify at least one tooth (20) based on the at least one input digital data record (19) and/or the plurality of input digital data records (19) and/or translate the at least one input digital data record (19) and/or the plurality of input digital data records (19) to the at least one virtual representation (9), preferably of movement steps of the treatment plan (15), and/or match at least one tooth (20) with an area of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10), preferably of movement steps of the treatment plan (15), based on the at least one input digital data record (19) and/or the plurality of input digital data records (19) (Sachdeva, Para 0021, The workstation further provides software tools for aligning two dimensional image data, such as X-ray data, with a virtual three-dimensional models of the teeth).
Regarding claim 8, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one client (3) is configured to move and/or rotate the at least one virtual representation (9) and to modify the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10), particularly preferred by moving at least one tooth (20) relative to at least one other tooth (20) and/or gingiva (21) and/or by locating at least one attachment (17) to at least one tooth (20) (Sachdeva, Para 0105, applying the X-Ray data to the template tooth roots and modifying their shape accordingly, and them applying the modified template tooth root to the scan data of the crown to create a scaled, complete virtual tooth object including tooth roots).
Regarding claim 9, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual representation (9) includes at least one attachment (17) based on a treatment plan (15), measurements of at least one tooth (20) and/or movement steps based on a treatment plan (15) (Sachdeva, Para 0111, The interactive treatment planning preferably provides suitable tools and icons that allow the user to vary parameters affecting the patient).
Regarding claim 10, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 5, wherein the at least one client (3) comprises means for importing (22), particularly preferred user interface (7),which are configured to import via a data exchange system and/or a case management system at least one input digital data record (19) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) to be treated and/or at least one input digital data record (19) of a treatment plan (15) of an orthodontic treatment planning software (1) based on the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or at least one input digital data record (14) of at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of at least part of the dentition (11) based on at least one digital data record of a treatment plan (15) and/or movement steps of an orthodontic treatment planning software (1) for the at least part of the dentition (11), and/or means for processing (23)at least one input digital data record (19), particularly preferred processing unit (30) and/or interpreter between the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) and the at least one server (2), which are configured to analyze the at least one input digital data record (19) based on the file format and/or identify at least one object (18) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or at least one attachment (17) for the at least part of the dentition (11) based on the at least one input digital data record (19) and/or match the at least one object (18) and if applicable the at least one attachment (17) to construct the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or means for visualizing (24) and/or modifying, particularly preferred web browser (26) or app interface (25), which are configured to visualize within a web browser (26) or an app (31) the at least one input digital data record (19), particularly preferred the treatment plan (15), movement steps of the treatment plan (15) and/or the at least one virtual representation (9) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) to be treated, and/or move and/or rotate the at least one virtual representation (9) to a desired size and/or viewing angle and/or modify the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or means for exporting (27), particularly preferred user interface (7), which are configured to export the at least one digital data record (14) suitable for approving the treatment plan (15) or creating a new treatment plan (15) by means of the at least one server (2), whereby it is particularly preferred that the at least one digital data record (14) is in the form of a modified input digital data record (19) based on a modification of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or a desired modification of at least one movement step of the treatment plan (15) for the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or a virtual representation (9) of at least one modified three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or the treatment plan (15), preferably with notes (16) for a desired treatment plan (15) and/or information of discrepancies and/or measurements of objects (18) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10)( Sachdeva, Para 0120, The treatment planning software includes a module 308 that allows the user to input selections as to variable parameters that affect the visual appearance of the patient, as input to a craniofacial analysis module 328 described below).
Regarding claim 11, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the means for importing (22) are at least temporally in signal-conducting data connection with a DDX database (28) and/or a CRM software (29), preferably by means of an API of the means for importing (22), and/or the means for visualization (24) are configured to display discrepancies and/or measurements of objects (18) of the at least part of the dentition (11) based on the treatment plan (15) and/or on at least one modified three-dimensional virtual model (10) (Sachdeva, Para 0132, The third party executes the instructions to create, visualize and manipulate the virtual patient model).
Regarding claim 12, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches a web browser-based or app-based method for visualizing at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of at least part of a dentition (11) by means of an arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: receiving by the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) at least one input digital data record (14) by means of the second data transmission interface (13) via a data network (32) from the first data transmission interface (12) of the at least one server (2) visualizing by the at least one local client (3) at least one virtual representation (9) of at least one three-dimensional model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) by means of the user interface (7) in the form of a stand-alone web browser-based or app-based treatment plan viewer (8) transmitting by the at least one local client (3) at least one digital data record (14) of a modified three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or with information for a desired treatment plan (15) of the at least part of the dentition (11) by means of the first data transmission interface (12) to the second data transmission interface (13) of the at least one server (2)( Sachdeva, Para 0118, The vendor would receive an order for a custom appliance specifically to fit an individual patient. Module 34 would process this order and containing instruction for designing the appliance to fit the individual morphology and condition of the patient).
Regarding claim 13, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches the method according to claim 12, wherein by means of the at least one client (3) the method imports via a data exchange system and/or a case management system, particularly preferred by means of a user interface (7) at least one input digital data record (19) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) to be treated and/or at least one input digital data record (19) of a treatment plan (15) of an orthodontic treatment planning software (1) based on the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or at least one input digital data record (19) of at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of at least part of the dentition (11) based on at least one digital data record of a treatment plan (15) and/or movement steps of an orthodontic treatment planning software (1) for the at least part of the dentition (11), and/or processes the least one input digital data record (19), particularly preferred by means of a processing unit (30) and/or an interpreter between the local computer (4) or mobile device (5) and the at least one server (3) in order to analyze the at least one input digital data record (19) based on the file format and/or identify at least one object (18) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or at least one attachment (17) for the at least part of the dentition (11) based on the at least one input digital data record (19) and/or match the at least one object (18) and if applicable the at least one attachment (17) to construct the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or visualizes, particularly preferred by means of a browser or app interface (25), within a web browser (26) or an app (31) the at least one input digital data record (19), particularly preferred the treatment plan (15), movement steps of the treatment plan (15) and/or the at least one virtual representation (9) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) to be treated, and/or moves and /or rotates the at least one virtual representation (9) to a desired size and/or viewing angle and/or modifies the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) of the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or exports, particularly preferred by means of a user interface (7), the at least one digital data record (14) suitable for approving the treatment plan (15) or creating a new treatment plan (15) by means of the at least one server (2), whereby it is particularly preferred that the at least one digital data record (14) is in the form of a modified input digital data record (19) based on a modification of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or a desired modification of at least one movement step of the treatment plan (15) for the at least part of the dentition (11) and/or a virtual representation (9) of at least one modified three-dimensional virtual model (10) and/or the treatment plan (15), preferably with notes (16) for a desired treatment plan (15) and/or information of discrepancies and/or measurements of objects (18) of the at least one three-dimensional virtual model (10) (Sachdeva, Para 0132, The third party executes the instructions to create, visualize and manipulate the virtual patient model).
Regarding claim 14, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches a computer program product, which, when the program is executed by a processing unit (30), causes the processing unit (30) to carry out the method according to claim 12 (Sachdeva, Para 0057, The overall system 100 includes a general-purpose computer system 10 having a processor (CPU 12) and a user interface 14, including screen display 16, mouse 18 and keyboard 20).
Regarding claim 15, Sachdeva in view of Golay teaches a non-volatile, computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processing unit (30), cause the processing unit (30) to carry out the method according to claim 12 (Sachdeva, Para 0058, The system 100 includes a computer storage medium or memory 22 accessible to the general-purpose computer system 10).
Conclusion
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/B.T.H./Examiner, Art Unit 2166
/SANJIV SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2166