DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-7, 12, 13, 15 and 16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 6/25/26.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
Use of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is invoked is rebutted when the function is recited with sufficient structure, material, or acts within the claim itself to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is not invoked is rebutted when the claim element recites function but fails to recite sufficiently definite structure, material or acts to perform that function.
Claim elements in this application that use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Similarly, claim elements that do not use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitations use a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are:
an image acquisition unit,
a region of interest acquisition unit,
a data processing unit, and
a storage unit of claim 1.
Because these claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, they are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If applicant does not intend to have these limitations interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitations to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitations recite sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
The corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof of the claim limitations are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, are described in Applicant’s specification paragraph 63 and include a processor performing the claimed functions.
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, 8-11, 14, 17 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Xu et al. US Publication 2012/0134561 (hereafter “Xu”).
Referring to claims 1 and 17, Xu discloses an information processing apparatus comprising:
an image acquisition unit configured to acquire material decomposition image data based on detection signals related to X-ray photons transmitted through a subject in a plurality of respective energy bands (paragraph 28, Accordingly, at step 302, an acquisition system such as the DAS 214 of FIG. 2 acquires a first set of projection data corresponding to X-rays produced at a first energy level and a second set of projection data corresponding to X-rays produced at a second energy level);
a region of interest acquisition unit configured to acquire a region of interest in the material decomposition image data (paragraph 46, In one embodiment, the image reconstruction unit detects the non-noise information by segmenting the first MD image to obtain the first structure image and segmenting the second MD image to obtain the second structure image);
a data processing unit configured to generate partial image data of the material decomposition image data corresponding to the region of interest (paragraph 47, Accordingly, the image reconstruction unit processes the first MD image with the final second noise mask and the second MD image with the final first noise mask to generate a final first MD image and a final second MD image at step 316); and
a storage unit configured to store the partial image data of the material decomposition image data (paragraph 24, The image reconstructor 228 then either stores the final MD images in the storage device 218 or transmits the final MD images to the computing device 216 for generating useful information for diagnosis and evaluation).
Referring to claim 2, Xu discloses wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to acquire a region where a predetermined material is present in the material decomposition image data, as the region of interest (paragraph 23, Accordingly, the image reconstructor 228 distinguishes between an absorption of X-rays caused by a first basis material, for example water, and an absorption caused by a second basis material, for example iodine, based on the received data).
Referring to claim 3, Xu discloses wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to set a region of interest mask for the region of interest of the material decomposition image data, and
wherein the data processing unit is configured to generate the partial image data of the material decomposition image data based on the region of interest mask (paragraph 47, Accordingly, the image reconstruction unit processes the first MD image with the final second noise mask and the second MD image with the final first noise mask to generate a final first MD image and a final second MD image at step 316).
Referring to claim 4, Xu discloses wherein the data processing unit is configured to set a storage region including the region of interest represented by the region of interest mask, and generate the partial image data by extracting the storage region (paragraph 24, The image reconstructor 228 then either stores the final MD images in the storage device 218 or transmits the final MD images to the computing device 216 for generating useful information for diagnosis and evaluation).
Referring to claim 8, Xu discloses wherein the image acquisition unit is configured to acquire a plurality of pieces of material decomposition image data (paragraph 28, Accordingly, at step 302, an acquisition system such as the DAS 214 of FIG. 2 acquires a first set of projection data corresponding to X-rays produced at a first energy level and a second set of projection data corresponding to X-rays produced at a second energy level),
wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to acquire a region of interest in each of the plurality of pieces of material decomposition image data (paragraph 46, In one embodiment, the image reconstruction unit detects the non-noise information by segmenting the first MD image to obtain the first structure image and segmenting the second MD image to obtain the second structure image), and
wherein the storage unit is configured to store partial image data corresponding to the region of interest in each of the plurality of pieces of material decomposition image data (paragraph 24, The image reconstructor 228 then either stores the final MD images in the storage device 218 or transmits the final MD images to the computing device 216 for generating useful information for diagnosis and evaluation).
Referring to claim 9, Xu discloses wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to acquire regions where respective materials are present in the plurality of pieces of material decomposition image data, as the regions of interest (paragraph 30, In one embodiment, for example, the image reconstruction unit reconstructs a water image using the first set of material projection data and an iodine image using the second set of material projection data).
Referring to claim 10, Xu discloses wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to set a threshold about a predetermined physical quantity for each of the pieces of material decomposition image data, and acquire a region where the physical quantity is higher than or equal to the threshold, as the region of interest (paragraph 19, In certain embodiments, the detector elements 202 include energy discriminative (ED) detector materials capable of separating X-ray photons from one acquisition into two energy bins).
Referring to claim 11, Xu discloses wherein the region of interest acquisition unit is configured to set a region of interest mask for the region of interest in each of the pieces of material decomposition image data, and
wherein the data processing unit is configured to generate the partial image data of each of the pieces of material decomposition image data based on the region of interest mask (paragraph 47, Accordingly, the image reconstruction unit processes the first MD image with the final second noise mask and the second MD image with the final first noise mask to generate a final first MD image and a final second MD image at step 316).
Referring to claim 14, Choi discloses wherein the storage unit is configured to store the partial image data of the material decomposition image data on a material basis (paragraph 24, The image reconstructor 228 then either stores the final MD images in the storage device 218 or transmits the final MD images to the computing device 216 for generating useful information for diagnosis and evaluation).
Referring to claim 18, Choi discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a computer to perform the information processing method according to claim 17 (paragraph 26, In the distributed computing environment, the computer executable instructions may be located in both local and remote computer storage media, including memory storage devices).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Moriyasu et al. US Publication 2020/0033273
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/PETER K HUNTSINGER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2682
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