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 .
Election/Restrictions
After review of reply filed on 3/23/2026, it is found that the restriction requirement is not in need for the present invention. Thus, claims 1-16 are treated on the merit.
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.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Talbert et al (US 2020/0397247 A1 from IDS) in view of Swanson et al (US 2019/0212761 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Talbert discloses an illumination method (Figs. 8A-10B) comprising:
causing coherent light from a light source (para [0176] “The system 800 includes a coherent light source 802”) to enter a propagation path (para [0176] “a fiber optic bundle 808”) via an incidence surface (Fig. 9A, at incidence surface of 808b);
relatively oscillating the light incident on the incidence surface and the incidence surface so as
to temporally change at least one of an incidence position and an incidence angle of the light on
the incidence surface (by 806; para [0177] “The system 800 includes a vibrating mechanism 806 attached to the fiber optic bundle 808. The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light. When the path geometry is changed at a quick frequency, the observable speckle pattern is substantially reduced or eliminated such that the speckle pattern cannot be detected by a human viewing the display 816. In an embodiment, the minimum oscillation frequency to remove observable speckle is approximately 20 Hz. If an image of the environment is captured with an image sensor 812, this minimum frequency can change based on the image acquisition frame rate and the display frame rate”); and
radiating the light that has propagated through the propagation path onto a target (Fig. 8B, at the end of endoscope 810).
However, the prior art does not disclose the propagation path is a multimode.
Swanson discloses a multimode propagation path ([para 0035] “The use of multimode or multicore optical fiber according to the present teaching instead of single-mode optical fiber in an endoscope”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use a multimode propagation path as taught by Swanson for the purpose of obtaining dramatic advantages for optical imaging because such optical fiber can support multiple spatial optical modes (instead of just one in single-mode fiber) allowing more complex optical fields to be measured and/or created at the distal end of the endoscope by manipulating or measuring the optical field at the proximal end of the endoscope or to recover a complex field at the proximal end of the endoscope from light emitted from a sample at the distal end of the endoscope (para [0035]).
Regarding claim 2, the illumination method according to Claim 1,
wherein the light from the light source (Tarbert, 802) is caused to enter the propagation path via an optical guide member (Fig. 8A, para [0177] “fiber optic bundle 808”), and wherein the relatively oscillating the light incident on the incidence surface and the incidence surface includes oscillating a distal end of the optical guide member (see Figs. 9B and 9C).
Regarding claim 3, the illumination method according to Claim 1,
wherein the relatively oscillating the light incident on the incidence surface and the incidence
surface includes oscillating a proximal end of the propagation path provided with the incidence
surface (Tarbert, see Figs. 9B and 9C).
Regarding claim 4, Tarbert discloses an illumination method comprising:
causing coherent light from a light source (para [0176] “The system 800 includes a coherent light source 802”) to enter a propagation path (para [0176] “a fiber optic bundle 808”) via an incidence surface (Fig. 9A, at incidence surface of 808b);
radiating the light that has propagated through the propagation path (808) onto a target via an output surface (Fig. 8B, at the end of endoscope 810); and
oscillating a distal end of the propagation path provided with the output surface so as to
temporally change a position and an angle of the light output from the output surface (by 806; para [0177] “The system 800 includes a vibrating mechanism 806 attached to the fiber optic bundle 808. The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light. When the path geometry is changed at a quick frequency, the observable speckle pattern is substantially reduced or eliminated such that the speckle pattern cannot be detected by a human viewing the display 816. In an embodiment, the minimum oscillation frequency to remove observable speckle is approximately 20 Hz. If an image of the environment is captured with an image sensor 812, this minimum frequency can change based on the image acquisition frame rate and the display frame rate”).
However, the prior art does not disclose the propagation path is a multimode.
Swanson discloses a multimode propagation path ([para 0035] “The use of multimode or multicore optical fiber according to the present teaching instead of single-mode optical fiber in an endoscope”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use a multimode propagation path as taught by Swanson for the purpose of obtaining dramatic advantages for optical imaging because such optical fiber can support multiple spatial optical modes (instead of just one in single-mode fiber) allowing more complex optical fields to be measured and/or created at the distal end of the endoscope by manipulating or measuring the optical field at the proximal end of the endoscope or to recover a complex field at the proximal end of the endoscope from light emitted from a sample at the distal end of the endoscope (para [0035]).
Regarding claim 5, the illumination method according to Claim 1, wherein the light incident on the incidence surface is diverging light (Tarbert, divergent light at incidence surface at 920 in Fig. 9A).
Regarding claim 6, the illumination method according to Claim 1, wherein a frequency of the oscillation is 10 Hz or higher (Tarbert, para [0177] “approximately 20 Hz”).
Regarding claim 7, Tarbert in view of Swanson discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the frequency of the oscillation is 200 Hz or higher.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to choose the claimed frequency, since it has been held that discovering an optimum value of a result effective variable involves only routine skill in the art as being motivated to accommodate image acquisition frame rate and the display frame rate.
Regarding claim 8, Tarbert discloses an illumination device (Fig. 8A-10B) comprising:
a first optical guide member (Fig. 9A, para [0187] “first fiber optic portion 808a”) that comprises an optical fiber and that optically guides coherent light from a light source (para [0176] “The system 800 includes a coherent light source 802”);
a second optical guide member (Fig. 9A, para [0187] “second fiber optic portion 808b”) that has an incidence surface (at the begging of 808b), an output surface (at the end of 808b), and a
propagation path between the incidence surface and the output surface (path of 808b shown in Fig. 9A) and that causes the light output from a distal end of the first optical guide member to enter the
propagation path via the incidence surface (see Fig. 8A, from light source 802 to endoscope probe 810); and
an oscillation mechanism that relatively oscillates the light incident on the incidence surface and
the incidence surface so as to temporally change at least one of an incidence position and an
incidence angle of the light on the incidence surface (by 806; para [0177] “The system 800 includes a vibrating mechanism 806 attached to the fiber optic bundle 808. The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light. When the path geometry is changed at a quick frequency, the observable speckle pattern is substantially reduced or eliminated such that the speckle pattern cannot be detected by a human viewing the display 816. In an embodiment, the minimum oscillation frequency to remove observable speckle is approximately 20 Hz. If an image of the environment is captured with an image sensor 812, this minimum frequency can change based on the image acquisition frame rate and the display frame rate”).
However, the prior art does not disclose the propagation path is a multimode.
Swanson discloses a multimode propagation path ([para 0035] “The use of multimode or multicore optical fiber according to the present teaching instead of single-mode optical fiber in an endoscope”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use a multimode propagation path as taught by Swanson for the purpose of obtaining dramatic advantages for optical imaging because such optical fiber can support multiple spatial optical modes (instead of just one in single-mode fiber) allowing more complex optical fields to be measured and/or created at the distal end of the endoscope by manipulating or measuring the optical field at the proximal end of the endoscope or to recover a complex field at the proximal end of the endoscope from light emitted from a sample at the distal end of the endoscope (para [0035]).
Regarding claim 9, the illumination device according to Claim 8, wherein the oscillation mechanism has a scanner that oscillates the distal end of the first optical guide member in a radial direction of the first optical guide member (Tarbert, para [0177] “The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light”).
Regarding claim 10, the illumination device according to Claim 9, wherein an oscillation amplitude of the distal end of the first optical guide member is smaller than an effective diameter of the incidence surface (Tarbert, changing geometry of the coherent light will result in smaller amplitude than an effective diameter of the incidence surface).
Regarding claim 11, Tarbert in view of Swanson discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for the illumination device further comprising: relay optical system disposed between the first optical guide member and the second optical guide member, wherein the relay optical system focuses the light output as diverging light from the distal end of the first optical guide member onto the incidence surface of the second optical guide member.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to further disclose a relay optical system disposed between the first optical guide member and the second optical guide member, wherein the relay optical system focuses the light output as diverging light from the distal end of the first optical guide member onto the incidence surface of the second optical guide member for the purpose of maintaining numerical aperture by collecting diverging light and re-focus it efficiently.
Regarding claim 12, the illumination device according to Claim 8, wherein an optical axis of the first optical guide member is inclined relative to an optical axis of the second optical guide member (Tarbert, see Fig. 8A shows the first optical guide member 808a and the second optical guide member 808b that are inclined).
Regarding claim 13, the illumination device according to Claim 8, further comprising a diffusing member that is disposed in front of the output surface of the second optical guide member, is fixed to the output surface, and diffuses the light (Tarbert, para [0031] “Fig. 14 illustrates a single optical fiber outputting via a diffuser at an output to illuminate a scene in a light deficient environment”).
Regarding claim 14, Tarbert discloses an endoscope system (Figs. 8A-10B) comprising:
a light source device (Fig. 8B, 802); and
an endoscope (810) connected to the light source device (see Fig 8A),
wherein the light source device includes:
a light source (802);
a first optical guide member (Fig. 9A, para [0187] “first fiber optic portion 808a”) that comprises an optical fiber and that optically guides coherent light from a light source (para [0176] “The system 800 includes a coherent light source 802”); and
an oscillation mechanism (806),
wherein the endoscope includes:
a second optical guide member (Fig. 9A, para [0187] “second fiber optic portion 808b”) that has an incidence surface (at the begging of 808b), an output surface (at the end of 808b), and a
propagation path between the incidence surface and the output surface (path of 808b shown in Fig. 9A) and that causes the light output from a distal end of the first optical guide member to enter the
propagation path via the incidence surface (see Fig. 8A, from light source 802 to endoscope probe 810); and
wherein the oscillation mechanism relatively oscillates the light incident on the incidence
surface and the incidence surface so as to temporally change at least one of an incidence
position and an incidence angle of the light on the incidence surface (by 806; para [0177] “The system 800 includes a vibrating mechanism 806 attached to the fiber optic bundle 808. The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light. When the path geometry is changed at a quick frequency, the observable speckle pattern is substantially reduced or eliminated such that the speckle pattern cannot be detected by a human viewing the display 816. In an embodiment, the minimum oscillation frequency to remove observable speckle is approximately 20 Hz. If an image of the environment is captured with an image sensor 812, this minimum frequency can change based on the image acquisition frame rate and the display frame rate”).
However, the prior art does not disclose the propagation path is a multimode.
Swanson discloses a multimode propagation path ([para 0035] “The use of multimode or multicore optical fiber according to the present teaching instead of single-mode optical fiber in an endoscope”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to use a multimode propagation path as taught by Swanson for the purpose of obtaining dramatic advantages for optical imaging because such optical fiber can support multiple spatial optical modes (instead of just one in single-mode fiber) allowing more complex optical fields to be measured and/or created at the distal end of the endoscope by manipulating or measuring the optical field at the proximal end of the endoscope or to recover a complex field at the proximal end of the endoscope from light emitted from a sample at the distal end of the endoscope (para [0035]).
Regarding claim 15, the endoscope system according to Claim 14, wherein the oscillation mechanism has a scanner that oscillates the distal end of the first optical guide member in a radial direction of the first optical guide member (Tarbert, para [0177] “The vibrating mechanism 806 is attached at some location along the length of the fiber optic bundle 808 between the coherent light source 802 and the endoscope 810. The vibrating mechanism 806 causes the coherent light emitted by the coherent light source 802 to lose coherence momentarily by changing the geometry of the path of the coherent light. The vibrating mechanism 806 introduces a series of changes to the path geometry of the coherent light”).
Regarding claim 16, Tarbert in view of Swanson discloses the claimed invention as set forth above except for wherein the light source device (802) and the endoscope (810) are detachably connected to each other.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention before the effective filing date to make the light source device and the endoscope that are detachably connected to each other for the purpose of exchanging broken parts easily.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EUNCHA P CHERRY whose telephone number is (571)272-2310. The examiner can normally be reached M to F 7am to 3:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pinping Sun can be reached at (571) 270-1284. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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5/14/2026
/EUNCHA P CHERRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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