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 .
Response to Amendment
The preliminary amendments filed on 1 October 2024 and 14 October 2024 have been accepted and entered. Claims 2-21 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 2, 5-8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Matsuzaki et al. (US 2016/0263399 A1).
With respect to claims 2, 10, and 16, Matsuzaki discloses a system and associated method of operation for monitoring anatomical changes in a subject in radiation therapy, the system comprising: an analysis unit (image processing unit, 201), comprising an input configured to receive first anatomical image data and subsequent anatomical image data of the subject (positioning image and treatment plan image, par. [0040, 0046]); a change state identification unit configured to identify changes between the first anatomical image data and the subsequent anatomical image data as change states (alignment results are used in calculation of deformation and displacement amount parameters, par. [0048-0049]); a qualitative translator configured to match the identified change states to corresponding qualitative descriptions (deformation and displacement amount parameters); a reporting unit configured to provide a monitoring report comprising qualitative descriptions of the identified change states (on display unit with graphical user interface and keyboard/mouse for input, 203, par. [0040, 0049], Fig. 2). With further respect to claim 16, Matsuzaki discloses a computer program for performing the claimed method (par. [0071]).
With respect to claims 5, 6, 13, and 19, Matsuzaki discloses obtaining quantitative image data comprising region of interest size (by region extracting unit and calculation of displacement amount parameter, par. [0040]).
With respect to claims 7, 14, and 20, Matsuzaki discloses the inclusion of pictograms in the monitoring report (graphical representation of results, shown in Fig. 10).
With respect to claim 8, Matsuzaki discloses a graphical user interface with one or more selectable features for displaying additional information (user specifies if alignment is correct, and if not, additional calculation and alignment information is performed and displayed, flow chart shown in Fig. 3, steps 306-314).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, and 21 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 following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claims 3, 4, 11, 12, 17, and 18, the cited prior art does not appear to disclose or reasonably suggest a change state identification unit which is configured to use a trained learning algorithm for change state identification.
With respect to claims 9, 15, and 21, the cited prior art does not appear to disclose or reasonably suggest receiving dose distribution data of a treatment plan for the subject; and identifying one or more changes between the dose distribution data and the subsequent anatomical image data as respective change states.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK R GAWORECKI whose telephone number is (571)272-8540. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8 AM-6 PM.
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/MARK R GAWORECKI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884 13 January 2026