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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “camera housing” claimed in Claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). Although a “camera housing 1012” is described in the written description as being in FIGs. 10A-10X, Examiner is unable to locate it in the figures. No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: “a chassis” in line 10 should be “the chassis” introduced in lines 8-9. The typographical error “n” in line 28 should be “in”. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(b)
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 1 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. Specifically, Claim 1 includes the following claimed features:
“the curved slot” in line 20 has no antecedent basis. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the curved slot” as the slot introduced in line 8;
“the retaining holding the flexible circuit board” in lines 21-22 has no antecedent basis, nor is it clearly described in the specification. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the retaining” as “a retaining clip”. Applicant is advised that changing “the retaining” creates an antecedent basis issue for a retaining clip introduced in line 31 of Claim 1;
an “illumination LED” is introduced in line 22 and again line 29. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets the illumination LED in lines 22 and 29 as being a same illumination LED;
“the camera housing” introduced in line 22 has no antecedent basis. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the camera housing” a “a camera housing”;
“the internal surface of the external housing” in line 38 has no antecedent basis. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the internal surface of the external housing” as “an internal surface of an external housing”;
“the endoscope being designed as one of the family” in line 42 has no antecedent basis. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the endoscope being designed as one of the family” as “the endoscope being designed as one of a plurality of endoscopes”.
Claim 3 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. Specifically, Claim 3 includes the feature of “the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties” in line 4, which has no antecedent basis. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties” as “the endoscopes of the plurality of endoscopes having differing optical properties”.
Claims 12-15 are 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. Specifically, Claim 12-15 are identified in their preambles as an endoscope, and depend, directly or indirectly, on Claim 9, which is “a family of endoscopes”. It is unclear if Claims 12-15 are claiming the family of endoscopes or a single endoscope. Appropriate correction by Applicant is required. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the endoscope” in the preamble of Claims 12-15 as “the family of endoscopes”.
Claim 12 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. Specifically, Claim 12 there is no antecedent basis for “the printed circuit board” in lines 3-4. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the printed circuit board” as “a printed circuit board”.
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. Specifically, in Claim 18 there is no antecedent basis for “the family” in line 5. For purposes of examination, Examiner interprets “the family” as “a family of endoscopes”.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
The present rejection(s) reference specific passages from cited prior art. However, Applicant is advised that the rejections are based on the entirety of each cited prior art. That is, each cited prior art reference “must be considered in its entirety”. Therefore, Applicant is advised to review all portions of the cited prior art if traversing a rejection based on the cited prior art.
Claims 2 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”).
Regarding Claim 2, Salman discloses:
An endoscope (Salman FIG. 1, endoscope 100), comprising:
a handle (Salman FIG. 1, handle 104);
an insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 1, elongate shaft 102 having a shaft distal section 112) projecting distally from the handle;
a solid-state camera (Salman FIG. 3A, cameras 310; Salman paragraph [0094], “Each of cameras 310 may include a sensor, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor”) mounted at a distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman paragraph [0084], “Shaft distal section 112 houses at least three cameras 310 (shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B)”), the insertion shaft being designed for insertion into a cavity to carry the camera to a viewing location intended by a user (Salman paragraph [0081], “an elongated shaft 102, configured to be inserted into an anatomical site (e.g. an anatomical cavity)”);
the camera being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302; Examiner interprets CBA 302 as having some degree of flexibility due to the thinner/narrower neck member 318 between board proximal section 314 and board distal section 312 of CBA 302; see also Salman paragraph [0092], “CBA 302 is foldable”), the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402 combined with: depression 610 in upper part 404 in Salman FIG. 6; and recess 518 in Salman FIG. 5B) in a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400), the chassis being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, showing cameras 310 mounted on structure 400; Salman FIG. 11A, showing shaft distal section 112 with the cameras 310 shown in Salman FIG. 3A at the distal end of elongate tube 1110), the chassis formed as two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 4A, upper part 404 and lower part 402) designed to mate together to fit within the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, rigid cover 800; Salman FIG. 11A, rigid cover 800 at distal end of elongated tube 1110; Salman paragraph [0134], “an elongated tube 1110 which may form the external part of shaft 102”), a division of the chassis being generally perpendicular to the flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 4B, showing z-axis that defines a division of structure 400 that is perpendicular to CBA 302), the slot being formed as two opposing sub-slots each formed into the two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402; Salman FIG. 6, depression 610 in upper part 404);
the sub-slots being designed to capture the flexible circuit board during assembly (Salman FIG. 4A/4B, showing upper part 404 and lower part 402 of structure 400 capturing cameras 326 that are affixed to printed circuit board 302 as shown in Salman Fig. 3A), and to bend the flexible circuit board into a desired shape as the two chassis subcomponents are brought together, with the camera mounted on the flexible circuit board to be urged into a desired position by the resilience of the flexible circuit board as bent by the slot (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400; Examiner interprets the assembled structure 400 as having shaped the board neck member 318 in Salman FIG. 3A into the recess 518 shown in Salman FIG. 5B, such that cameras 310 are urged into a desired position when attached to the CBA 302).
Regarding Claim 5, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Salman further discloses the camera (Salman FIG. 3A, cameras 310) is affixed to the flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302), and is positioned within the endoscope via resilience of the flexible circuit board, without adhesive (Salman FIG. 8, showing structure 400, with cameras 310 within as shown in Salman FIG. 4A , being aligned for coupling to cover 800 along arrow M via the resilience of board proximal section 314; see also Salman FIG. 9 in which proximal section 440 of structure 400 and narrowed proximal section 824 of cover 800 are pressed together without adhesive).
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 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Loo et al. (US PGPUB 2021/0364778 – “Loo”) and Ting (US PGPUB 2019/0059703 – “Ting”).
Regarding Claim 1, Salman discloses:
An endoscope (Salman FIG. 1, endoscope 100), comprising:
a handle (Salman FIG. 1, handle 104);
an insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 1, elongate shaft 102 having a shaft distal section 112) projecting distally from the handle;
a solid-state camera (Salman FIG. 3A, cameras 310; Salman paragraph [0094], “Each of cameras 310 may include a sensor, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor”) mounted at a distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman paragraph [0084], “Shaft distal section 112 houses at least three cameras 310 (shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B)”), the insertion shaft being designed for insertion into a cavity to carry the camera to a viewing location intended by a user (Salman paragraph [0081], “an elongated shaft 102, configured to be inserted into an anatomical site (e.g. an anatomical cavity)”);
the camera being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302; Examiner interprets CBA 302 as having some degree of flexibility due to the thinner/narrower neck member 318 between board proximal section 314 and board distal section 312 of CBA 302; see also Salman paragraph [0092], “CBA 302 is foldable”), the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402 combined with: depression 610 in upper part 404 in Salman FIG. 6; and recess 518 in Salman FIG. 5B) in a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400);
a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400) designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, showing cameras 310 mounted on structure 400; Salman FIG. 11A, showing shaft distal section 112 with the cameras 310 shown in Salman FIG. 3A at the distal end of elongate tube 1110):
the chassis formed as two molded subcomponents (Salman FIG. 4A, upper part 404 and lower part 402) designed to be assembled to present a bilaterally symmetric solid in a body component to fit within the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, rigid cover 800; Salman FIG. 11A, rigid cover 800 at distal end of elongated tube 1110; Salman paragraph [0134], “an elongated tube 1110 which may form the external part of shaft 102”), the two parts separated on a plane of symmetry (Salman FIG. 4B, showing y-axis that defines a plane of symmetry between upper part 404 and lower part 402), a division of the chassis being generally perpendicular to the flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 4B, showing z-axis that defines a division of structure 400 that is perpendicular to CBA 302), the slot being formed as two opposing sub-slots each formed into the two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402; Salman FIG. 6, depression 610 in upper part 404);
the sub-slots being designed to capture the flexible circuit board during assembly (Salman FIG. 4A/4B, showing upper part 404 and lower part 402 of structure 400 capturing cameras 326 that are affixed to printed circuit board 302 as shown in Salman Fig. 3A), and to bend the flexible circuit board into a desired shape as the two chassis subcomponents are brought together, with the camera mounted on the flexible circuit board to be urged into a desired position by the resilience of the flexible circuit board as bent by the slot, the curved slot through the interior of the chassis designed to retain the flexible circuit board within the channel (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400; Examiner interprets the assembled structure 400 as having shaped the board neck member 318 in Salman FIG. 3A into the recess 518 shown in Salman FIG. 5B, such that cameras 310 are urged into a desired position when attached to the CBA 302);
the chassis (Salman FIG. 8, structure 400) having a tail portion (Salman FIG. 8, sink proximal section 440) designed for insertion into a retaining component (Salman FIG. 8, cover proximal end 804) affixed to the end of a rigid tube (Salman FIG. 8, cover 800), the chassis tail having an external shape designed to engage with an internal shape of the retaining component, the engagement designed to ensure a designed angular relationship between the chassis and rigid tube and assembly in only one way (Salman FIG. 9, showing structure 400 secured within cover 800; Salman FIG. 5B, showing recess 518 in sink lower part 402 that aligns with board neck member 318 shown in Salman FIG. 8);
a window (Salman FIG. 11B, front windows 912a) over the camera (Salman FIG. 4A, camera 310a) at the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 11B, elongated tube 1110; Salman FIG. 9, front window 912a1 covering front lens assembly 326a of from camera 310a shown in Salman FIG. 4A);
the internal surface of the external housing (Salman FIG. 8, cover 800) and exterior surface of the chassis (Salman FIG. 8, structure 400) being designed to engage with each other, and designed to ensure assembly in only one way (Salman FIG. 8, showing structure 400 being inserted into cover 800 along the direction shown by arrow M); and
the endoscope being designed as one of the family having differing optical properties, the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other, except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property (Salman FIG. 3A, showing optical unit 300 having a unique/specific configuration of three cameras 310a-310c orthogonal to one another).
Salman does not explicitly disclose:
the retaining clip holding the flexible circuit board to urge the camera housing and illumination LED against the window, without adhesive;
an illumination LED mounted on the flexible circuit board, the camera housing and illumination LED being mounted on opposite sides of the flexible circuit board;
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip at its distal end, the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft; and
a lens clip attached to an end of the flexible circuit board, the lens clip having an inner surface designed to engage with an outer surface of the camera housing to retain the LED in a designed position, for urging against the window.
Loo is analogous art in the field of endoscopes that teaches:
the retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) holding the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 110) to urge the camera housing (Loo FIG. 2, image sensor 145) and illumination LED (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130; Examiner notes that Salman explicitly describes illumination modules 712 in Salman FIG. 7A as being LEDs in Salman paragraph [0119]) against the window (Salman FIG. 2, lens 120), without adhesive (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”; Examiner interprets this passage as the joint clamping provided by the lens holder 125 as being without adhesive);
an illumination LED (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130; Examiner notes that Salman explicitly describes illumination modules 712 in Salman FIG. 7A as being LEDs in Salman paragraph [0119]) mounted on the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 110), the camera housing (Loo FIG. 2, image sensor 145) and illumination LED being mounted on opposite sides of the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, showing image sensor 145 and light source 130 on opposite sides of flexible circuit board 110);
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) at its distal end, the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”);
a lens clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) attached to an end of the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, third segment 113 and sixth segment 116 of flexible circuit board 110), the lens clip having an inner surface designed to engage with an outer surface of the camera housing (Loo FIG. 2, lens 120 and image sensor 145) to retain the LED (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130) in a designed position, for urging against the window (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Loo’s extended flexible circuit board with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having different types of components that can be selectively positioned in three axes of orientation.
Salman in view of Loo does not explicitly teach the endoscope being designed as one of the family having differing optical properties, the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other, except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property.
Ting is analogous art in the field of endoscopy that teaches the endoscope (Ting Fig. 1, endoscope 100 having a handle 120) being designed as one of the family having differing optical properties, the endoscopes of the family using parts (Ting FIG. 4, insert tubes 110a-110d) interchangeable among each other (Ting paragraph [0031], “handle 120 may selectively connect to one of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d”), except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property (Ting paragraph [0031], “first parameters of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d…are different from each other”; Ting paragraph [0017], “function modes correspond to the first parameter”; Ting paragraph [0022], “ the field of vision…the focus…correspond to the function modes”; see also Ting FIG. 2, in which the insert tube 110 includes a camera module 130 having a camera 131, sensor 132, and circuit board 133, which Examiner interprets a creating a unique optical property for the endoscope 100).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ting’s interchangeable insert tubes having different optical parameters with the endoscope taught by Salman in view of Loo. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope that provides the flexibility of insertion portions that have different physical dimensions (length, diameter) as well as different optical characteristics (based on the camera module within the selected insert tube).
Regarding Claim 18, Salman in view of Loo teaches the features of Claim 16, as described above.
Salman further discloses an endoscope having a window (Salman FIG. 11B, front windows 912a) over the camera (Salman FIG. 4A, camera 310a) at the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 11B, elongated tube 1110; Salman FIG. 9, front window 912a1 covering front lens assembly 326a of from camera 310a shown in Salman FIG. 4A).
Salman in view of Loo does not explicitly teach the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties, the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other, except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property.
Ting is analogous art in the field of endoscopy that teaches the endoscopes (Ting Fig. 1, endoscope 100 having a handle 120) of the family (Ting FIG. 4, family of endoscopes resulting from combination of handle 120 with one of insert tubes 110a-110d) having differing optical properties (Ting paragraph [0031], “first parameters of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d…are different from each other”; Ting paragraph [0017], “function modes correspond to the first parameter”; Ting paragraph [0022], “ the field of vision…the focus…correspond to the function modes”; see also Ting FIG. 2, in which the insert tube 110 includes a camera module 130 having a camera 131, sensor 132, and circuit board 133, which Examiner interprets a creating a unique optical property for the endoscope 100), using parts interchangeable among each other (Ting FIG. 4, insert tubes 110a-110d), except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property (Ting paragraph [0031], “first parameters of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d…are different from each other”; Ting paragraph [0017], “function modes correspond to the first parameter”; Ting paragraph [0022], “ the field of vision…the focus…correspond to the function modes”; see also Ting FIG. 2, in which the insert tube 110 includes a camera module 130 having a camera 131, sensor 132, and circuit board 133, which Examiner interprets a creating a unique optical property for the endoscope 100).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ting’s interchangeable insert tubes having different optical parameters with the endoscope taught by Salman in view of Loo. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope that provides the flexibility of insertion portions that have different physical dimensions (length, diameter) as well as different optical characteristics (based on the camera module within the selected insert tube).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Ting (US PGPUB 2019/0059703 – “Ting”).
Regarding Claim 3, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Specifically, Salman discloses the endoscope of Claim 2, and thus discloses a plurality of the endoscopes of Claim 2.
Salman further discloses a window (Salman FIG. 11B, front windows 912a) over the camera (Salman FIG. 4A, camera 310a) at the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 11B, elongated tube 1110; Salman FIG. 9, front window 912a1 covering front lens assembly 326a of from camera 310a shown in Salman FIG. 4A).
Salman does not explicitly disclose the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties, the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other, except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property.
Ling is analogous art in the field of endoscopy that teaches the endoscopes (Ting Fig. 1, base endoscope 100 having a base handle 120 and a selected one of insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, or 110d) of the family having differing optical properties (Ting paragraph [0031], “first parameters of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d…are different from each other”; Ting paragraph [0017], “function modes correspond to the first parameter”; Ting paragraph [0022], “ the field of vision…the focus…correspond to the function modes”; see also Ting FIG. 2, in which the insert tube 110 includes a camera module 130 having a camera 131, sensor 132, and circuit board 133, which Examiner interprets a creating a unique optical property for the endoscope 100), the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other (Ting paragraph [0031], “handle 120 may selectively connect to one of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d”), except that components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property (Ting paragraph [0031], “first parameters of the insert tubes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d…are different from each other”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ting’s interchangeable insert tubes having different optical parameters with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope that provides the flexibility of insertion portions that have different physical dimensions (length, diameter) as well as different optical characteristics (based on the camera module within the selected insert tube).
Claims 4, 6, 16-17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Loo et al. (US PGPUB 2021/0364778 – “Loo”).
Regarding Claim 4, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Salman does not explicitly disclose:
an illumination emitter mounted on the flexible circuit board;
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip at its distal end, the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft.
Loo is analogous art in the field of endoscopes that teaches:
an illumination emitter (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130; Examiner notes that Salman explicitly describes illumination modules 712 in Salman FIG. 7A as being LEDs in Salman paragraph [0119]) mounted on the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 100);
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) at its distal end, the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Loo’s extended flexible circuit board with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having different types of components that can be selectively positioned in three axes of orientation.
Regarding Claim 6, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Salman does not explicitly disclose the camera is urged against a window at the distal end of the endoscope via resilience of the flexible circuit board, without adhesive.
Loo is analogous art in the field of endoscopes that teaches the camera (Loo FIG. 2, image sensor 145) is urged against a window (Salman FIG. 2, lens 120) at the distal end of the endoscope via resilience of the flexible circuit board, without adhesive (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”; Examiner interprets this passage as the joint clamping provided by the lens holder 125 as being without adhesive).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Loo’s extended flexible circuit board with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having different types of components that can be selectively positioned in three axes of orientation.
Regarding Claim 16, Salman discloses:
An endoscope (Salman FIG. 1, endoscope 100), comprising:
a handle (Salman FIG. 1, handle 104);
an insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 1, elongate shaft 102 having a shaft distal section 112) projecting distally from the handle;
a solid-state camera (Salman FIG. 3A, cameras 310; Salman paragraph [0094], “Each of cameras 310 may include a sensor, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor”) mounted at a distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman paragraph [0084], “Shaft distal section 112 houses at least three cameras 310 (shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B)”), the insertion shaft being designed for insertion into a cavity to carry the camera to a viewing location intended by a user (Salman paragraph [0081], “an elongated shaft 102, configured to be inserted into an anatomical site (e.g. an anatomical cavity)”);
the camera being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302; Examiner interprets CBA 302 as having some degree of flexibility due to the thinner/narrower neck member 318 between board proximal section 314 and board distal section 312 of CBA 302; see also Salman paragraph [0092], “CBA 302 is foldable”), the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402 combined with: depression 610 in upper part 404 in Salman FIG. 6; and recess 518 in Salman FIG. 5B) in a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400), the chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400) being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, showing cameras 310 mounted on structure 400; Salman FIG. 11A, showing shaft distal section 112 with the cameras 310 shown in Salman FIG. 3A at the distal end of elongate tube 1110).
Salman does not explicitly disclose:
an illumination emitter mounted on the flexible circuit board;
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip at its distal end, and
the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft.
Loo is analogous art in the field of endoscopes that teaches:
an illumination emitter (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130) mounted on the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 110);
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) at its distal end,
the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Loo’s extended flexible circuit board with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having different types of components that can be selectively positioned in three axes of orientation.
Regarding Claim 17, Salman in view of Loo teaches the features of Claim 16, as described above.
Salman further discloses:
the chassis formed as two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 4A, upper part 404 and lower part 402) designed to mate together to fit within the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, rigid cover 800; Salman FIG. 11A, rigid cover 800 at distal end of elongated tube 1110; Salman paragraph [0134], “an elongated tube 1110 which may form the external part of shaft 102”), a division of the chassis being generally perpendicular to the flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 4B, showing z-axis that defines a division of structure 400 that is perpendicular to CBA 302), the slot being formed as two opposing sub-slots each formed into the two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402; Salman FIG. 6, depression 610 in upper part 404);
the sub-slots being designed to capture the flexible circuit board during assembly (Salman FIG. 4A/4B, showing upper part 404 and lower part 402 of structure 400 capturing cameras 326 that are affixed to printed circuit board 302 as shown in Salman Fig. 3A), and to bend the flexible circuit board into a desired shape as the two chassis subcomponents are brought together, with the camera mounted on the flexible circuit board to be urged into a desired position by the resilience of the flexible circuit board as bent by the slot (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400; Examiner interprets the assembled structure 400 as having shaped the board neck member 318 in Salman FIG. 3A into the recess 518 shown in Salman FIG. 5B, such that cameras 310 are urged into a desired position when attached to the CBA 302).
Regarding Claim 19, Salman in view of Loo teaches the features of Claim 16, as described above.
Salman further discloses the illumination emitter is an LED (Salman explicitly describes illumination modules 712 in Salman FIG. 7A as being LEDs in Salman paragraph [0119]).
Loo further teaches the illumination emitter (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130) is affixed to the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 100) near a distal end of the flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, sixth segment 116), proximal relative to the retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, distal end of lens holder 125).
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Fujimoto et al. (US PGPUB 2011/0264038 – “Fujimoto”).
Regarding Claim 7, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Although Salman discloses a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302) and sub-slots (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402; Salman FIG. 6, depression 610 in upper part 404), Salman does not explicitly disclose a port/slot that has lead-in slopes to ease introduction and capture of an insertion device.
Fujimoto is analogous art in the field of endoscopic insertion devices that teaches a port/slot (Fujimoto FIG. 10, hole 63) that has lead-in slopes (Fujimoto FIG. 10, tapered input port 64) to ease introduction and capture of an insertion device (Fujimoto FIG. 10, delivery wire 104).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Fujimoto’s tapered input port with the endoscope disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having an input port/slot that guides a component (e.g., a flexible circuit board) into a chassis, as described in Salman.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Donahoo (US Patent 5,528,432 – “Donahoo”).
Regarding Claim 8, Salman discloses the features of Claim 2, as described above.
Salman does not explicitly disclose a body of the camera has bevels that mate with bevels on an interior of the chassis, designed to capture and position the camera with respect to the chassis.
Donahoo is analogous art in the field of endoscopy that teaches a body of the camera (Donahoo FIG. 2, CCD 26 and lens means 45) has bevels (Donahoo FIG. 2, tapering between lens means 45 and pinhole lens 52) that mate with bevels on an interior of the chassis (Donahoo FIG. 3, bevels/taper on interior of distal casing 60), designed to capture and position the camera with respect to the chassis (Donahoo Fig. 3, showing lens means 45 secured within tapered distal end of casing 60).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Donahoo’s tapered/beveled surfaces with the camera system disclosed by Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of a camera that is secured within a housing, in order to minimize movement of the camera in vivo.
Claims 9 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US PGPUB 2019/0246873 – “Lu”) in view of Wieters (US PGPUB 2022/0202524 – “Wieters”) and Dekel et al. (US PGPUB 2007/0282190 – “Dekel”).
Regarding Claim 9, Lu discloses:
A family of endoscopes, comprising:
a plurality of endoscopes (Lu FIG. 1, handle 2130 selectively connectable to one of single use insertion portions 2122, 2020, and/or the single use portion 2120 shown within pouch 2121 for therapeutic purposes and/or the single use portion 2120 shown within pouch 2123 for diagnostic purposes; see Lu paragraph [0033]), each endoscope having a handle (Lu FIG. 1, handle 2130) with an insertion shaft (single use insertion portions 2120, 2122) projecting distally from the handle (see labeled hand-held portion 2110 in Lu FIG. 1), the insertion shaft having a solid-state camera mounted at its distal tip (Lu FIG. 4, camera module 2252 at distal tip 2250 of cannula 2240 that attaches to handle portion 2130; see Lu paragraph [0037]), the insertion shaft being designed for insertion into a cavity to carry the camera to a viewing location intended by a user (Lu paragraph [0012], “inserting the cannula of the assembled endoscope into a body cavity and imaging the cavity with an imaging module at a distal tip of the inserted cannula”), and
the endoscopes of the family using parts interchangeable among each other (Lu paragraph [0033], “single-use portion 2120 is detachable from handle portion 2130 such that the handle portion 2130 is configured to be used many times. According to some embodiments, different types of versions of the single-use portions can be made available”).
Lu does not explicitly disclose a window over the camera at the distal tip of the insertion shaft; and the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties, and components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property.
Wieters teaches a window (Wieters FIG. 1, window 5 distal to image sensor 24, shown in Wieters FIG. 2b) over the camera (Wieters image sensor 24) at the distal tip (Wieters FIG. 1, distal portion 6) of the insertion shaft (Wieters FIG. 1, endoscope shaft 3). Wieters further teaches an optical assembly 12 with a prism 14 in Wieters FIG. 2b.
Dekel teaches an endoscope having two types of sensors in a distal end of an insertion portion (Dekel FIG. 6b, distal mid-infrared sensor 689 and conventional visible camera 609 in the distal end of insertion tube 601 of endoscope 650). As such, Wieters and Dekel together teach the endoscopes of the family having differing optical properties (Wieters prism 14; Dekel two types of image sensors), thus resulting in components of the endoscope related to the varying optical property are specific to the scope with that optical property when selecting the optical system of Wieters for a first endoscope and the optical system of Dekel for a second endoscope in the family.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to selectively utilize one of the two types of image systems taught by Wieters and Dekel the different single use insertion portions 2122, 2020 disclosed by Lu. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to utilize these different optical systems in order to expand the functional flexibility of the system disclosed by Lu.
Regarding Claim 12, Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel teaches the features of Claim 9, as described above.
Wieters further teaches the interchangeable parts include the camera (Wieters FIG. 4, image sensor 24), the handle (Wieters FIG. 1, handle 2), the insertion shaft (Wieters endoscope shaft 3), and the printed circuit board (Wieters FIG. 4, circuit board 32) designed to mount the camera.
Dekel further teaches the interchangeable parts include an illumination source (Dekel FIG. 6b, visible light source 607).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to share the components taught by Wieters and Dekel among the endoscopes in the family taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to share these components in order to have a family that expands the range of shared functions found in the family disclosed by Dekel.
Regarding Claim 13, Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel teaches the features of Claim 12, as described above.
Wieters further teaches the interchangeable parts include the camera (Wieters FIG. 4, image sensor 24), the handle (Wieters FIG. 1, handle 2), the insertion shaft (Wieters endoscope shaft 3), and the printed circuit board (Wieters FIG. 4, circuit board 32) designed to mount the camera.
Dekel further teaches the interchangeable parts include an illumination source (Dekel FIG. 6b, visible light source 607).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to share the components taught by Wieters and Dekel among the endoscopes in the family taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to share these components in order to have a family that expands the range of shared functions found in the family disclosed by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel.
Claims 10 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US PGPUB 2019/0246873 – “Lu”) in view of Wieters (US PGPUB 2022/0202524 – “Wieters”) Dekel et al. (US PGPUB 2007/0282190 – “Dekel”), and Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – Regarding Claim 10, Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel teaches the features of Claim 9, as described above.
Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel does not explicitly teach:
the camera being mounted on a flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot in a chassis, the chassis being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft, the chassis formed as two subcomponents designed to mate together to fit within the insertion shaft, a division of the chassis being generally perpendicular to the flexible circuit board, the slot being formed as two opposing sub-slots each formed into the two subcomponents;
the sub-slots being designed to capture the flexible circuit board during assembly, and to bend the flexible circuit board into a desired shape as the two chassis subcomponents are brought together, with the camera mounted on the flexible circuit board to be urged into a desired position by the resilience of the flexible circuit board as bent by the slot.
Salman teaches:
the camera being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302; Examiner interprets CBA 302 as having some degree of flexibility due to the thinner/narrower neck member 318 between board proximal section 314 and board distal section 312 of CBA 302; see also Salman paragraph [0092], “CBA 302 is foldable”), the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot in a chassis (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402 combined with: depression 610 in upper part 404 in Salman FIG. 6; and recess 518 in Salman FIG. 5B) in a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400), the chassis being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, showing cameras 310 mounted on structure 400; Salman FIG. 11A, showing shaft distal section 112 with the cameras 310 shown in Salman FIG. 3A at the distal end of elongate tube 1110), the chassis formed as two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 4A, upper part 404 and lower part 402) designed to mate together to fit within the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, rigid cover 800; Salman FIG. 11A, rigid cover 800 at distal end of elongated tube 1110; Salman paragraph [0134], “an elongated tube 1110 which may form the external part of shaft 102”), a division of the chassis being generally perpendicular to the flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 4B, showing z-axis that defines a division of structure 400 that is perpendicular to CBA 302), the slot being formed as two opposing sub-slots each formed into the two subcomponents (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402; Salman FIG. 6, depression 610 in upper part 404);
the sub-slots being designed to capture the flexible circuit board during assembly (Salman FIG. 4A/4B, showing upper part 404 and lower part 402 of structure 400 capturing cameras 326 that are affixed to printed circuit board 302 as shown in Salman Fig. 3A), and to bend the flexible circuit board into a desired shape as the two chassis subcomponents are brought together, with the camera mounted on the flexible circuit board to be urged into a desired position by the resilience of the flexible circuit board as bent by the slot (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400; Examiner interprets the assembled structure 400 as having shaped the board neck member 318 in Salman FIG. 3A into the recess 518 shown in Salman FIG. 5B, such that cameras 310 are urged into a desired position when attached to the CBA 302).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Salman’s flexible circuit board and sub-slots with the endoscope taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of one or more endoscopes that can be assembled using multiple prefabricated components, in order to reduce cost and to increase uniformity in assembled endoscopes.
Regarding Claim 14, Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel teaches the features of Claim 9, as described above.
Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel does not explicitly teach wherein the differing optical property is view offset angle varying among the endoscopes of the family.
Salman teaches wherein the differing optical property is view offset angle varying among the endoscopes of the family (Salman Fig. 3A, showing cameras 310a-310c having different offset angles).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to share the components taught by Salman with those taught by Wieters and Dekel among the endoscopes in the family taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to share these components in order to have a family that expands the range of shared functions (e.g., orthogonal viewing axes as described by Salman) found in the family taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel.
Regarding Claim 15, Lu in view of Wieters, Dekel, and Salman teaches the features of Claim 14, as described above.
Salman further teaches wherein the components varying among the endoscopes of the family include a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400) designed to mount the camera (Salman FIG. 4A, camera 310a) and a window (Salman FIG. 9, window 912a1 over lens 326a) over the camera (Salman FIG. 4, camera 310a associated with lens 326a).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Salman’s chassis with one or more of the endoscopes in the family taught by Lu in view of Wieters, Dekel, and Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of a family of endoscopes in which the camera and window are secured by a chassis, in order to avoid undue movement of the camera and/or window.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu et al. (US PGPUB 2019/0246873 – “Lu”) in view of Wieters (US PGPUB 2022/0202524 – “Wieters”) Dekel et al. (US PGPUB 2007/0282190 – “Dekel”), Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”), and Loo et al. (US PGPUB 2021/0364778 – “Loo”).
Regarding Claim 11, Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel teaches the features of Claim 9, as described above.
Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel does not explicitly teach the camera and an illumination emitter being mounted on a flexible circuit board, the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a slot in a chassis, the chassis being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft.
Salman teaches the camera and an illumination emitter being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Salman FIG. 3A, circuit board assembly (CBA) 302; Examiner interprets CBA 302 as having some degree of flexibility due to the thinner/narrower neck member 318 between board proximal section 314 and board distal section 312 of CBA 302; see also Salman paragraph [0092], “CBA 302 is foldable”), the flexible circuit board being mounted at the distal end of the insertion shaft by engaging in a (Salman FIG. 5A, opening 510 in lower part 402 combined with: depression 610 in upper part 404 in Salman FIG. 6; and recess 518 in Salman FIG. 5B) in a chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400), the chassis (Salman FIG. 4B, structure 400) being designed to mount the camera at the distal end of the insertion shaft (Salman FIG. 8, showing cameras 310 mounted on structure 400; Salman FIG. 11A, showing shaft distal section 112 with the cameras 310 shown in Salman FIG. 3A at the distal end of elongate tube 1110).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Salman’s flexible circuit board and slots with the endoscope taught by Lu in view of Wieters and Dekel. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of one or more endoscopes that can be assembled using multiple prefabricated components, in order to reduce cost and to increase uniformity in assembled endoscopes.
Lu in view of Wieters, Dekel, and Salman does not explicitly disclose:
an illumination emitter being mounted on a flexible circuit board,
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip at its distal end,
the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft.
Loo is analogous art in the field of endoscopes that teaches:
an illumination emitter (Loo FIG. 2, light source 130) being mounted on a flexible circuit board (Loo FIG. 2, flexible circuit board 110),
the flexible circuit board having a retaining clip (Loo FIG. 2, lens holder 125) at its distal end,
the retaining clip being clipped to hold the camera and illumination emitter in desired relationship within the distal tip of the insertion shaft (Loo paragraph [0030], “image sensor 145 is disposed on the flexible circuit board 110, and the circuit board holder 140 and the lens holder 125 jointly clamp the flexible circuit board 110 to fix the flexible circuit board 110, so that the lens 120, the image sensor 145, and the flexible circuit board 110 are well positioned within the distal end 18”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Loo’s extended flexible circuit board with the endoscope disclosed by Lu in view of Wieters, Dekel, and Salman. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having different types of components that can be selectively positioned in three axes of orientation.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salman et al. (US PGPUB 2022/0257106 – “Salman”) in view of Loo et al. (US PGPUB 2021/0364778 – “Loo”) and Ting (US PGPUB 2019/0059703 – “Ting”).
Regarding Claim 20, Salman in view of Loo teaches the features of Claim 16, as described above.
Salman in view of Loo does not explicitly teach the retaining clip is a circular loop designed to clip over a lens barrel of the camera.
Byrne is analogous art in the field of optics that teaches the retaining clip is a circular loop (Byrne FIG. 7, clip 136 combined with heater loop 140a) designed to clip over a lens barrel (Byrne FIB. 4, lens barrel 124) of the camera (Byrne FIG. 7, camera 114).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Byrne’s loop/circular clip 136 with the endoscope described by Salman in view of Loo. A person having ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine these prior art elements according to known methods to yield the predictable result of an endoscope having a camera lens barrel that is fixed relative to the body of the camera, in order to ensure stability of an image captured by the camera.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes, but is not limited to:
Lord et al. (US PGPUB 2020/0345218 – “Lord”), which depicts in Lord FIG. 5(c) a reusable handle 114 that attaches to a disposable insertion portion 120. Lord paragraphs [0037] and [0059] also describe an LED in the tip of the disposable insertion portion 120 for providing visible (white) and invisible (e.g., IR or UV) light;
Banik et al. (US PGPUB 2005/0222499 – “Banik”), which depicts in Banik FIG. 6C an image sensor 49 mounted to a flex circuit 492; and
Sorensen et al. (US PGPUB 2020/0405137 – “Sorensen”), which depicts in Sorensen FIG. 2b a camera assembly 8 and includes a flexible PCB 84, image sensor 83, and LEDs 81/82.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIM BOICE whose telephone number is (571)272-6565. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm Eastern.
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, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at (571)272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JIM BOICE
Examiner
Art Unit 3795
/JAMES EDWARD BOICE/Examiner, Art Unit 3795
/ANHTUAN T NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
6/15/26
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