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 .
Notice to Applicant
This communication is in response to the amendment filed 2/13/26. Claims 1, 4, 12, 14, 20, 21, and 23 have been amended. Claims 7, 11, and 13 are cancelled. Claims 1-6, 8-10, 12, and 14-23 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 18 is rejected for reciting unclear language. It is unclear if the "an ophthalmic device additional device" is the same “ophthalmic device” recited in claim 1, or a different device.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the at least one of repositioning and resizing " in line 4 and “the repositioning and the resizing” in lines 7-8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim Objections
Claim 20 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “a clinician” at lines 1-2 and again at line 7. As such, it is unclear whether or not the “clinician” at line 7 is the same “clinician” at lines 1-2, or if they are different clinicians. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: change “clinician” to “the clinician.” Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-6, 15, 16, 19, 20, and 23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soryal et al. (US 2023/0360442 A1) in view of Jones et al. (US 2016/0225192 A1).
(A) Referring to claim 1, Soryal discloses An apparatus for facilitating presentation of medical data to a user, the apparatus comprising (abstract and para. 14 of Soryal):
at least one of a microphone and a hand tracking device, wherein the microphone is configured for generating a sound data and the hand tracking device is configured for generating a gesture data based on a hand gesture (para. 11, 22, and 42 of Soryal; a health monitoring module (HMM) that may function as one or more virtual sensor devices (e.g., a virtual camera and/or a virtual microphone) “inside” the virtual environment. For instance, the HMM may take a data feed from the virtual environment (e.g., visual and/or audio data) and may perform analytical processing relating to behavioral data of virtual user representations (e.g., avatars) to track users' health.). Force feedback gloves 141-143 may also include a plurality of actuators which may be controllable to provide positive force and/or movement of various portions of the hands of the respective users 1-3 (e.g., electromechanical actuators or motors, electro-hydraulic actuators, electro-pneumatic actuators, etc.). In one example, force feedback gloves 141-143 may also include transceivers for wireless communications, wired communication, etc. Gestures via force feedback gloves 141 may be received by one of the servers 104 hosting the virtual environment);
a storage device configured for storing at least one medical data (para. 18 of Soryal; database(s) (DB(s)) 106 may comprise one or more physical storage devices (e.g., a database server, or servers), to store various types of information in support of systems for detecting via at least one detection model at least one health anomaly related to a physical condition of a user from behavioral data of a virtual representation of user that is extracted from a data feed of a region of a virtual environment, in accordance with the present disclosure);
a processing device communicatively coupled with at least one of the microphone and the hand tracking device, wherein the processing device is configured for: analyzing at least one of the sound data and the gesture data (para. 42, 11, & 13 of Soryal; gestures via force feedback gloves 141 may be received by one of the servers 104 hosting the virtual environment. A health monitoring module (HMM) that may function as one or more virtual sensor devices (e.g., a virtual camera and/or a virtual microphone) “inside” the virtual environment. For instance, the HMM may take a data feed from the virtual environment (e.g., visual and/or audio data) and may perform analytical processing relating to behavioral data of virtual user representations (e.g., avatars) to track users' health.) generating an instruction based on the analyzing (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on.); and
performing at least one operation on the at least one medical data based on the instruction, wherein the at least one operation comprises manipulating a presentation of the at least one medical data on at least one of a head-mountable device, an ophthalmic device, and an implantable device (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on. In addition, in one example, the HMM may be connected to and synced with one or more health applications (apps), health monitoring devices (such as a fitness band, smart watch, heart rate monitor, or similar internet-of-things (IoT) health monitoring device, and implant device, and so on), and so forth. In one example, the HMM may be connected to a data repository for the user's health data.);
at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device communicatively coupled with each of the processing device and the storage device, wherein each of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises at least one of a display device and a sound production device, wherein at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device is configured for presenting the at least one medical data based on the performing of the at least one operation (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on. In addition, in one example, the HMM may be connected to and synced with one or more health applications (apps), health monitoring devices (such as a fitness band, smart watch, heart rate monitor, or similar internet-of-things (IoT) health monitoring device, and implant device, and so on), and so forth. In one example, the HMM may be connected to a data repository for the user's health data.).
Soryal does not disclose that the user is a clinician during a medical procedure or a surgical procedure, that the hand tracking device is associated with the clinician, where the sound data and the gesture data are based on a command from the clinician; and performing the command by carrying out at least one operation on the at least one medical data based on the instruction.
Jones discloses that the user is a clinician during a medical procedure or a surgical procedure (para. 13, 23, & 67 of Jones; embodiments of FIGS. 10-12 allow a surgeon or other user to see several virtual displays of different medical information without looking away from the surgical site and focusing far away to view physical monitors that may be mounted across the OR or elsewhere adjacent to the patient. In some embodiments, three operational “modes” of the virtual displays are selectively activated based upon pitch of the surgeon's head and the corresponding viewing line-of-sight of the user. FIG. 13 is a block diagram of components of an augmented reality surgical system that tracks the location of surgical tools, a surgeon's head mounted display, and parts of a patient's anatomy, and generates a three dimensional (3D) model from patient data that is displayed on the head mounted display), that the hand tracking device is associated with the clinician (para. 23 & 56 of Jones; an augmented reality surgical system that includes a head mounted display (HMD) apparatus that can be worn by a surgeon, physician, or other personnel during a medical procedure. The HMD can be configured to provide localized, real-time situational awareness to the wearer. The HMD includes a display screen that can be positioned within the line-of-sight and/or periphery Field Of View (FOV) of the wearer to provide visual information that can be organized and displayed as a single virtual display or as a collection of virtual displays that a wearer can navigate between to view using head movement, hand gestures, voice commands, eye control, and/or other operations disclosed herein.), where the sound data and the gesture data are based on a command from the clinician (para. 23, 27, & 33 of Jones; The HMD can be configured to provide localized, real-time situational awareness to the wearer. The HMD includes a display screen that can be positioned within the line-of-sight and/or periphery Field Of View (FOV) of the wearer to provide visual information that can be organized and displayed as a single virtual display or as a collection of virtual displays that a wearer can navigate between to view using head movement, hand gestures, voice commands, eye control, and/or other operations disclosed herein. The housing 118 encloses electronic components that display information on the display screen 110 and may operate in combination with a remote but communicatively connected computer equipment and/or with computer equipment integrated within the housing 118 to sense and interpret movement of the head, sense and interpret gestures made by a user's hands or other objects, and/or sense and interpret voice commands by the user.); and performing the command by carrying out at least one operation on the at least one medical data based on the instruction (para. 51, 54, 56, 68, and 122 of Jones; The user may trigger the OSP 632 to capture a still image from the video stream with the incorporated graphical indicia responsive to a voice command, a gesture sensed by the gesture sensor 602, and/or a motion sensed by the motion sensor 604. In this manner, a surgeon may view video of a surgical site and steer a graphical indicia to be aligned within the video overlapping a point-of-interest in the patient's anatomy, and trigger capture of a still image including the video and graphical indicia that can be saved on the video server 650 and/or distributed to another HMD 600 for viewing by another surgeon or person.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Jones within Soryal. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve the efficiency, productivity, throughput, and/or accuracy, and/or safety of the wearer's performance of a medical procedure and reduce mental fatigue (para. 24 of Jones).
(B) Referring to claim 2, Soryal discloses being a wearable device (para. 20, 22, and 60 of Soryal).
(C) Referring to claim 3, Soryal discloses being an extended reality device (para. 10 of Soryal).
(D) Referring to claim 4, Soryal discloses wherein the hand tracking device comprises a motion tracking glove configured for generating the gesture data by tracking the hand gesture of the user associated with the apparatus (para. 22 and 42 of Soryal).
Soryal does not disclose that the user is a clinician.
Jones discloses that the user is a clinician (para. 23 of Jones).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned feature of Jones within Soryal. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide localized, real-time situational awareness and to improve the efficiency, productivity, throughput, and/or accuracy, and/or safety of the wearer's performance of a medical procedure (para. 23 & 24 of Jones).
(E) Referring to claim 5, Soryal discloses further comprising an image sensor communicatively coupled with the storage device, wherein the image sensor is configured for generating one or more image data, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the one or more image data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the one or more image data (para. 11, 30, 47, and 65 of Soryal).
(F) Referring to claim 6, Soryal discloses wherein the at least one operation further comprises causing storing of the one or more image data (para. 30 and 47 of Soryal).
(G) Referring to claim 15, Soryal discloses further comprising a communication device configured for receiving the at least one medical data from an external medical system, wherein the communication device is communicatively coupled with the storage device (para. 17-20 of Soryal).
(H) Referring to claim 16, Soryal discloses wherein the communication device is further configured for transmitting the at least one medical data to a secondary presentation device comprising at least one of a secondary display device and a secondary sound production device (para. 19-21 & 45 of Soryal).
(I) Referring to claim 19, Soryal discloses wherein the analyzing of the at least one of the sound data and the gesture data is based on a machine learning model (para. 37, 41, and 55 of Soryal).
(J) Referring to claim 20, Soryal discloses An apparatus for facilitating presentation of medical data, the apparatus comprising (abstract of Soryal):
at least one of a microphone and a hand tracking device, wherein the microphone is configured for generating a sound data and the hand tracking device is configured for generating a gesture data based on a hand gesture, wherein the hand tracking device comprises a motion tracking glove configured for generating the gesture data by tracking the hand gesture of a user associated with the apparatus (para. 11, 22, 28, 33, and 42 of Soryal; a health monitoring module (HMM) that may function as one or more virtual sensor devices (e.g., a virtual camera and/or a virtual microphone) “inside” the virtual environment. For instance, the HMM may take a data feed from the virtual environment (e.g., visual and/or audio data) and may perform analytical processing relating to behavioral data of virtual user representations (e.g., avatars) to track users' health.). Force feedback gloves 141-143 may also include a plurality of actuators which may be controllable to provide positive force and/or movement of various portions of the hands of the respective users 1-3 (e.g., electromechanical actuators or motors, electro-hydraulic actuators, electro-pneumatic actuators, etc.). In one example, force feedback gloves 141-143 may also include transceivers for wireless communications, wired communication, etc. Gestures via force feedback gloves 141 may be received by one of the servers 104 hosting the virtual environment));
a storage device configured for storing at least one medical data (para. 18 of Soryal; database(s) (DB(s)) 106 may comprise one or more physical storage devices (e.g., a database server, or servers), to store various types of information in support of systems for detecting via at least one detection model at least one health anomaly related to a physical condition of a user from behavioral data of a virtual representation of user that is extracted from a data feed of a region of a virtual environment, in accordance with the present disclosure);
a processing device communicatively coupled with at least one of the microphone and the hand tracking device, wherein the processing device is configured for: analyzing at least one of the sound data and the gesture data (para. 42, 11, & 13 of Soryal; gestures via force feedback gloves 141 may be received by one of the servers 104 hosting the virtual environment. A health monitoring module (HMM) that may function as one or more virtual sensor devices (e.g., a virtual camera and/or a virtual microphone) “inside” the virtual environment. For instance, the HMM may take a data feed from the virtual environment (e.g., visual and/or audio data) and may perform analytical processing relating to behavioral data of virtual user representations (e.g., avatars) to track users' health.); generating an instruction based on the analyzing (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on.); and
performing at least one operation on the at least one medical data based on the instruction, wherein the at least one operation comprises manipulating a presentation of the at least one medical data on at least one of a head-mountable device, an ophthalmic device, and an implantable device (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on. In addition, in one example, the HMM may be connected to and synced with one or more health applications (apps), health monitoring devices (such as a fitness band, smart watch, heart rate monitor, or similar internet-of-things (IoT) health monitoring device, and implant device, and so on), and so forth. In one example, the HMM may be connected to a data repository for the user's health data.); and
at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device communicatively coupled with each of the processing device and the storage device, wherein each of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises at least one of a display device and a sound production device, wherein at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device is configured for presenting the at least one medical data based on the performing of the at least one operation (para. 14 of Soryal; once an HMM observes a potential health issue for a user, the HMM may first alert the user in the virtual environment, such as via a red flashing light, a siren, a text box that is displayed in a prominent part of the user's field of vision, etc. Secondly, the HMM may sound an alarm on the user's mobile phone, may notify a medical service provider (e.g., a doctor, hospital, emergency medical service, etc.), may notify a caregiver, and so on. In addition, in one example, the HMM may be connected to and synced with one or more health applications (apps), health monitoring devices (such as a fitness band, smart watch, heart rate monitor, or similar internet-of-things (IoT) health monitoring device, and implant device, and so on), and so forth. In one example, the HMM may be connected to a data repository for the user's health data.).
Soryal does not disclose facilitating presentation of medical data to a clinician during a medical procedure or surgical procedure; at least one of a microphone and a hand tracking device associated with the clinician; tracking the hand gesture of a clinician associated with the apparatus, and wherein the sound data and the gesture data are based on a command from the clinician.
Jones discloses facilitating presentation of medical data to a clinician during a medical procedure or surgical procedure (para. 13, 23, & 67 of Jones; embodiments of FIGS. 10-12 allow a surgeon or other user to see several virtual displays of different medical information without looking away from the surgical site and focusing far away to view physical monitors that may be mounted across the OR or elsewhere adjacent to the patient. In some embodiments, three operational “modes” of the virtual displays are selectively activated based upon pitch of the surgeon's head and the corresponding viewing line-of-sight of the user. FIG. 13 is a block diagram of components of an augmented reality surgical system that tracks the location of surgical tools, a surgeon's head mounted display, and parts of a patient's anatomy, and generates a three dimensional (3D) model from patient data that is displayed on the head mounted display); at least one of a microphone and a hand tracking device associated with the clinician (para. 23, 61, 118, & 56 of Jones; An augmented reality surgical system that includes a head mounted display (HMD) apparatus that can be worn by a surgeon, physician, or other personnel during a medical procedure. The HMD can be configured to provide localized, real-time situational awareness to the wearer. The HMD includes a display screen that can be positioned within the line-of-sight and/or periphery Field Of View (FOV) of the wearer to provide visual information that can be organized and displayed as a single virtual display or as a collection of virtual displays that a wearer can navigate between to view using head movement, hand gestures, voice commands, eye control, and/or other operations disclosed herein. The tablet computer may select among the virtual display panels responsive to a user moving (e.g., rotating) the tablet computer, responsive to identifying a hand gesture via a camera of the tablet computer and/or via a touch sensitive display of the table computer, and/or responsive to recognizing a voice command via a microphone of the tablet computer. The system subcomponent 1200 can be configured to provide defined visualization modes that a surgeon can select among using head movement, hand gestures, voice commands, etc., which are sensed by the HMD 100.); tracking the hand gesture of a clinician associated with the apparatus, and wherein the sound data and the gesture data are based on a command from the clinician (para. 120, 23, 27, 53, & 33 of Jones; through a head movement, hand gesture, or other command the surgeon may move a pointer along the virtual trajectory 1312 to select a location where a slice, e.g., along the x-y plane, is to be generated and displayed on the HMD 100. The HMD can be configured to provide localized, real-time situational awareness to the wearer. The HMD includes a display screen that can be positioned within the line-of-sight and/or periphery Field Of View (FOV) of the wearer to provide visual information that can be organized and displayed as a single virtual display or as a collection of virtual displays that a wearer can navigate between to view using head movement, hand gestures, voice commands, eye control, and/or other operations disclosed herein. The housing 118 encloses electronic components that display information on the display screen 110 and may operate in combination with a remote but communicatively connected computer equipment and/or with computer equipment integrated within the housing 118 to sense and interpret movement of the head, sense and interpret gestures made by a user's hands or other objects, and/or sense and interpret voice commands by the user.).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Jones within Soryal. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve the efficiency, productivity, throughput, and/or accuracy, and/or safety of the wearer's performance of a medical procedure and reduce mental fatigue (para. 24 of Jones).
(J) Referring to claim 23, Soryal discloses wherein the sound data and the hand gesture are directly generated by the user (para. 39, 42, 44, 45, and 53 of Soryal).
Soryal does not disclose that the user is a clinician.
Jones discloses that the user is a clinician (para. 23 of Jones).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned feature of Jones within Soryal. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide localized, real-time situational awareness and to improve the efficiency, productivity, throughput, and/or accuracy, and/or safety of the wearer's performance of a medical procedure (para. 23 & 24 of Jones).
Claim(s) 8-10, 12, 14, and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soryal et al. (US 2023/0360442 A1) in view of Jones et al. (US 2016/0225192 A1), and further in view of Hallen (US 2019/0099226 A1).
(A) Referring to claim 8, Soryal and Jones do not expressly disclose wherein the at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises a heads-up display screen, wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of causing selecting of at least one of a screen type and a screen input associated with the heads-up display screen, and creating one or more options of a menu for the heads-up display screen; and overlaying a first menu over a second menu on the heads-up display screen.
Hallen discloses wherein the at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises a heads-up display screen, wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of causing selecting of at least one of a screen type and a screen input associated with the heads-up display screen, and creating one or more options of a menu for the heads-up display screen (para. 60-64 of Hallen); and overlaying a first menu over a second menu on the heads-up display screen (para. 59, 60, 64, 65, 95, and 12 of Hallen).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Hallen within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to control aspects of the display (para. 61 of Hallen) and to navigate through menus (para. 64 of Hallen).
(B) Referring to claim 9, Soryal and Jones do not disclose wherein the at least one operation further comprises creating a custom path for the one or more options of the menu.
Hallen discloses wherein the at least one operation further comprises creating a custom path for the one or more options of the menu (para. 64 of Hallen).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned feature of Hallen within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to control aspects of the display (para. 61 of Hallen).
(C) Referring to claim 10, Soryal and Jones do not disclose wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of causing displaying and navigating between the one or more options of the menu.
Hallen discloses wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of causing displaying and navigating between the one or more options of the menu (para. 64 of Hallen).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned feature of Hallen within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to control aspects of the display (para. 61 of Hallen).
(D) Referring to claim 12, Soryal and Jones do not expressly disclose further comprising a footswitch configured for generating a foot gesture data representing one or more foot gestures of the clinician, wherein the footswitch is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the foot gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the foot gesture data.
Hallen discloses a footswitch configured for generating a foot gesture data representing one or more foot gestures of the clinician, wherein the footswitch is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the foot gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the foot gesture data (para. 48, 62, 64, 103, 104, and 114 of Hallen).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Hallen within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a variety of surgical accessories (para. 48 of Hallen).
(E) Referring to claim 14, Soryal and Jones do not expressly disclose further comprising an eye tracking device configured for generating an eye gesture data representing one or more eye gestures of the clinician, wherein the eye tracking device is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the eye gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the eye gesture data.
Hallen discloses an eye tracking device configured for generating an eye gesture data representing one or more eye gestures of the clinician, wherein the eye tracking device is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the eye gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the eye gesture data (para. 62-65 & 71 of Hallen).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Hallen within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to optimize the ophthalmic surgery suite (para. 66 of Hallen).
(F) Referring to claim 21, Soryal does not disclose wherein the at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises a heads-up display screen, wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of a repositioning and a resizing of the heads-up display screen; a head tracking device configured for generating a head gesture data representing one or more head gestures of clinician, wherein the head tracking device is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the head gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the head gesture data.
Jones discloses a head tracking device configured for generating a head gesture data representing one or more head gestures of clinician, wherein the head tracking device is communicatively coupled with the processing device, wherein the processing device is further configured for analyzing the head gesture data, wherein the generating of the instruction is further based on the analyzing of the head gesture data (Fig. 9, para. 23, 58, 72, 103, and 118-120 of Jones).
Hallen discloses wherein the at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device comprises a heads-up display screen, wherein the at least one operation further comprises at least one of a repositioning and a resizing of the heads-up display screen (para. 82 & 83 of Hallen; the surgical suite optimization engine performing an action to optimize the ophthalmic surgery suite involves automatically centering surgical camera with a patient's eye. In a three-dimensional surgery system, the surgical camera should remain centered on the pupil such that the eye can be presented centrally and fully on the heads-up display without vignettes and to ensure optimal lighting conditions, i.e. Red Reflex. However, as a patient's head and/or eye moves or is repositioned by the surgeon, the patient's eye can drift outside of the surgical camera's image center causing surgical staff to reposition the patient or the camera. The positioning mechanism can be, for example, a robotic arm, a gimbal, a linear positioning system, etc. Further, the surgical camera and/or the surgical suite optimization engine can include control system that can control the positioning mechanism to reposition the surgical camera to remain centered on the eye to ensure centration on the viewing display and to ensure that light source(s) to always be substantially perpendicular to the pupil).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Jones and Hallen within Soryal. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide localized, real-time situational awareness to the wearer and improve the efficiency, productivity, throughput, and/or accuracy, and/or safety of the wearer's performance of a medical procedure (para. 23 & 24 of Jones) and to ensure optimal conditions (para. 82-83 of Hallen).
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soryal et al. (US 2023/0360442 A1) in view of Jones et al. (US 2016/0225192 A1), and further in view of Liu et al. (US 2021/0377505 A1).
(A) Referring to claim 18, Soryal and Jones do not disclose wherein the at least one operation further comprises: cropping a first medical data of the at least one medical data; wherein the at least one of repositioning and resizing the first medical data based on the cropping; and overlaying of the first medical data over a second medical data of the at least one medical data presented on the at least one of the head-mountable device, an ophthalmic device additional device based on at least one of the repositioning and the resizing.
Liu discloses wherein the at least one operation further comprises: cropping a first medical data of the at least one medical data; wherein the at least one of repositioning and resizing the first medical data based on the cropping; and overlaying of the first medical data over a second medical data of the at least one medical data presented on the at least one of the head-mountable device, an ophthalmic device additional device based on at least one of the repositioning and the resizing (para. 26, 58-60, and 68 of Liu).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Liu within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to assist with a surgical procedure (para. 59 of Liu).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soryal et al. (US 2023/0360442 A1) in view of Jones et al. (US 2016/0225192 A1), and further in view of Al-Ali et al. (US 2014/0135588 A1).
(A) Referring to claim 17, Soryal and Jones do not disclose further comprising a proximity sensor communicatively coupled with at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device, wherein the proximity sensor is configured for detecting a presence of the secondary presentation device comprising at least one of the display device and the sound production device in a vicinity of the apparatus, wherein the transmitting of the at least one medical data is based on the detecting of the presence of the secondary presentation device.
Al-Ali discloses a proximity sensor communicatively coupled with at least one of the head-mountable device, the ophthalmic device, and the implantable device, wherein the proximity sensor is configured for detecting a presence of the secondary presentation device comprising at least one of the display device and the sound production device in a vicinity of the apparatus, wherein the transmitting of the at least one medical data is based on the detecting of the presence of the secondary presentation device (para. 12, 249, 201, 202, and 221 of Al-Ali)
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned features of Al-Ali within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to present data for analysis and diagnosis (para. 249 of Al-Ali).
Claim(s) 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Soryal et al. (US 2023/0360442 A1) in view of Jones et al. (US 2016/0225192 A1), and further in view of Burton (US 2021/0169417 A1).
(A) Referring to claim 22, Soryal and Jones do not expressly disclose wherein the sound data is based on a sound wave.
Burton discloses wherein the sound data is based on a sound wave (para. 1466-1469 of Burton).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to combine the aforementioned feature of Burton within Soryal and Jones. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable monitoring of sounds (para. 1468 of Burton).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Furthermore, Applicant's arguments fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.111(b) because they amount to a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without specifically pointing out how the language of the claims patentably distinguishes them from the references.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LENA NAJARIAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7072. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30 am-6 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mamon Obeid can be reached at (571)270-1813. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/LENA NAJARIAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3687