Detailed Action
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 08/12/2026 has been entered. Claims 1-17 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the Claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 05/14/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 08/12/2026 with respect to claim(s) 1 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.
Given the amendments to claim 1, reference to Wood is being relied upon to teach dependent claim 11 more-consistently with the instant claim language, as shown below.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hagn et al. (US 20250134609 A1, published May 1, 2025 with a priority date of September 30, 2021) in view of Wood et al. (US 20220031422 A1, published February 3, 2022), hereinafter referred to as Hagn and Wood, respectively.
Regarding claim 1, and similarly to claim 15, Hagn teaches a medical system, in particular a system-assisted system for minimally invasive surgery (Fig. 1, surgical robotic system 10), comprising:
a robot configured to hold and move a medical instrument (Fig. 1, robot arm 40 holding and moving instrument 50);
an access device (Fig. 6, access port 55) arrangeable to provide access to a body cavity for the medical instrument held by the robot (see para. 0072 " while the access port 55 is already placed in the body wall "BW" [body cavity] of the patient FIGS. 7 and 8 depicts the configuration of the robotic arm 100 when the instrument 50 is inserted through the port 55."),
wherein the access device includes a plurality of position indicators (Fig. 6, port markers 57 and 58 as plurality of position indicator);
a measuring unit having at least one sensor configured to determine a location and strength of the signal transmitted by each of the plurality of position indicators (see para. 0076 "With reference to FIG. 8, the access port 55 may also include one or more sensors 71, which may be a position sensor..." where determining location and strength of a position sensor signal is inherent and known in the art);
a position determining unit configured to determine a position of the access device according to the location and strength of the transmitted signals (see para. 0076 "With reference to FIG. 8, the access port55 [access device] may also include one or more sensors 71, which may be a position sensor…The position sensor is configured to provide accurate location finding without line-of-sight.");
a pivot point determining unit configured to determine a pivot point for the access device according to the determined position of the access device (see para. 0035 "In other words, the pivot point "P" is a remote center of motion (RCM) for the robotic arm 40."; see para. 0048 "In order to provide for soft RCM [pivot point] control of the robotic arm 100, the location of the incision point "I" [same location as access device 55] in the patient's body wall "BW" is determined in relation to the kinematics of the robotic arm 100..."); and
a robot controller configured to determine control commands for controlling the robot according to the determined pivot point in such a way that the robot carries out pivot movements of the medical instrument about the pivot point (see para. 0050 "Since the location of the access port 55 coincides to the location of the incision point "I", knowing the location of the port marker57 with respect to the kinematics of the robotic arm 100 allows for implementing the limitation in the inverse kinematics such that the motion of the robotic arm 100 is controlled in a way that a longitudinal axis "Z-Z" defined by the instrument 50 always intersects with the incision point "I" (FIG. 7).")..
Hagn teaches the access device includes a plurality of position indicators (includes port markers 57 and 58),
an active marker (tracker 211) on an access port configured to transmit a signal (see para. 0054 – “…a plurality of trackers 211, which may be disposed on the access port 55… Trackers 211 may be either active or passive transmitters capable of emitting electromagnetic energy detectable by the RF detectors 210, which may operate using any suitable electromagnetic spectrum transmissions configured to determine location of the trackers 211…The external cameras 202 and the RF detectors 210 are communicatively coupled to the computer 21, which is configured to process the image data from the external cameras 202 and the electromagnetic location data from the RF detectors 210 to determine position and/or orientation of the robotic arm 100, the access port 55…”), and
a position sensor (active marker) configured to transmit a signal (see para. 0076 – “With reference to FIG. 8, the access port 55 may also include one or more sensors 71, which may be a position sensor…The position sensor is configured to provide accurate location finding without line-of-sight.”), but does not explicitly teach where each of the position indicators on the access port are configured to transmit a signal.
Whereas, Wood, in an analogous field of endeavor, teaches each of the plurality of position indicators physically fixed to the access device and spaced apart from each other and configured to transmit a signal (Fig. 2B, active fiducial markers (position indicators) 212 spaced apart from each other; see para. 0049 – “Still referring to FIG. 2B, the active or passive fiducial markers 212 [the plurality of position indicators] are coupled with, such as placed on [physically fixed to] tools, e.g., the access port 12 [access device] and/or the imaging system 500, to be tracked, to determine the location and orientation of these tools using the tracking camera 213 and navigation system 205.”; see para. 0052 – “For example, using EM and RF markers may enable tracking of tools without requiring a line-of-sight from a tracking camera to the markers 212…” Where active markers and passive markers are known in the art).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the active marker on the access device, as disclosed in Hagn, by having a plurality of active markers on the access device, as disclosed in Wood. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to determine the position and/or orientation in 3D of a tracked tool in a virtual space, as taught in Wood (see para. 0049).
Furthermore, regarding claim 2, Hagn further teaches wherein the access device is free of a connection to the robot (Fig. 6, access port 55 free of connection to robot arm 100).
Furthermore, regarding claim 3, Hagn further teaches wherein the measuring unit is configured to measure a distance to the at least one position indicator (see para. 0054 "The system 10 also includes one or more external radio frequency (RF) emission detectors 210 configured to detect location and/or distance of a plurality of trackers 211 [position indicator]...").
Furthermore, regarding claim 4, Hagn further teaches wherein the signal is an electromagnetic signal (see para. 0054 "Trackers 211 [position indicator] may be either active or passive transmitters capable of emitting [generating] electromagnetic energy...").
Furthermore, regarding claim 5, Hagn further teaches wherein the access device comprises an energy storage unit configured to supply the at least one position indicator with energy (see para. 0054 " a plurality of trackers 211, which may be disposed on the access port 55...Trackers 211 may be either active [includes battery/energy storage unit] or passive transmitters capable of emitting electromagnetic energy...").
Furthermore, regarding claim 6, Hagn further teaches wherein the sensor of the measuring unit is an electromagnetic detection sensor (see para. 0054 "Trackers 211 may be either active or passive transmitters capable of emitting electromagnetic energy detectable by the RF detectors 210, which may operate using any suitable electromagnetic spectrum transmissions configured to determine location of the trackers 211 using time of flight, triangulation, and other methods.").
Furthermore, regarding claim 7, Hagn further teaches wherein the at least one position indicator comprises at least one optically detectable marking (Fig. 5; see para. 0069 "The arm cameras 204 and the RF detectors 212 may be communicatively coupled to the computer 21 and/or the computer 31, allowing for local processing for image and electromagnetic location data from the cameras 204 and the arm RF detectors 212. In particular, the image data may be used to identify the location of access ports 55 via the top marker 58 and one or more of the robotic arms 100 visible through the arm camera 204 [optical detector].").
Furthermore, regarding claim 8, Hagn further teaches wherein the sensor of the measuring unit is an optical detection sensor (Fig. 5; see para. 0069 "The arm cameras 204 and the RF detectors 212 may be communicatively coupled to the computer 21 and/or the computer 31, allowing for local processing for image and electromagnetic location data from the cameras 204 and the arm RF detectors 212. In particular, the image data may be used to identify the location of access ports 55via the top marker 58 and one or more of the robotic arms 100 visible through the arm camera 204 [optical detector].")
Furthermore, regarding claim 9, Hagn further teaches wherein the access device is free of an energy storage unit (see para. 0054 "…a plurality of trackers 211, which may be disposed on the access port 55… Trackers 211 may be either active or passive [free of battery/energy storage unit] transmitters capable of emitting electromagnetic energy...").
Furthermore, regarding claim 10, Hagn further teaches wherein the measuring unit is configured to carry out an image detection of the at least one position indicator (Fig. 5; see para. 0069 "The arm cameras 204 and the RF detectors 212 may be communicatively coupled to the computer 21 and/or the computer 31, allowing for local processing for image and electromagnetic location data from the cameras 204 and the arm RF detectors 212. In particular, the image data may be used to identify the location of access ports 55 via the top marker 58 and one or more of the robotic arms 100 visible through the arm camera 204.").
Furthermore, regarding claim 11, Wood further teaches wherein the position determining unit is configured to process the different positions of the plurality of position indicators to determine the position of the access device (see para. 0049 – “A tracked tool may be defined by a grouping of markers 212, which may define a rigid body to the tracking system. This may in turn be used to determine the position and/or orientation in 3D of a tracked tool in a virtual space. The position and orientation of the tracked tool in 3D may be tracked in six degrees of freedom…”).
Furthermore, regarding claim 12, Hagn further teaches wherein the robot controller is configured to generate control commands for controlling the robot with respect to a robot coordinate system, and wherein the pivot point determining unit is configured to determine the pivot point in relation to the robot coordinate system (see para. 0084 "Because the instrument marker59 has a fixed relation to the kinematics of the robotic arm 100 [pivot point determined in relation to an inherent robot coordinate system] and the top of the access port 55 has a fixed relation to the incision point "I" [predefined target pivot point], the relation between the incision point "I" and the robot kinematics is identified by the controller 21 a and may be used further on to apply the soft-RCM approach.")
Furthermore, regarding claim 13, Hagn further teaches wherein the access device has a predefined and/or predefinable target pivot point, wherein it is provided that the target pivot point substantially coincide with the pivot point during a performance of the pivot movements of the medical instrument, and wherein the pivot point determining unit is configured to take into account a geometric relationship between the position indicator and the target pivot point when determining the pivot point for the access device (see para. 0084 "Because the instrument marker 59 has a fixed relation to the kinematics of the robotic arm 100 [the pivot movements of medical instrument] and the top of the access port 55 [position indicator] has a fixed relation to the incision point "I" [predefined target pivot point], the relation between the incision point "I" and the robot kinematics is identified by the controller 21 a and may be used further on to apply the soft-RCM approach.").
Furthermore, regarding claim 14, Hagn further teaches a user interface via which a user can predefine the target pivot point and in particular a distance of the target pivot point from the at least one position indicator (see para. 0074 "In embodiments, the robotic arm 100 may include a user interface (not shown) configured to display a GUI to accomplish various tasks such as identify the location of the access port 55.").
Furthermore, regarding claim 16, Hagn further teaches a program code comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a method according to claim 15 to be carried out (see claim 15 above; see para. 0031 "The processor may be any suitable processor (e.g., control circuit) adapted to perform the operations, calculations, and/or set of instructions described in the present disclosure...").
Furthermore, regarding claim 17, Hagn further teaches a computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium on which program code according to claim 16 is stored (see claim 15 above; see para. 0031 "The computers 21, 31, 41 may include any suitable processor (not shown) operably connected to a memory (not shown), which may include one or more of volatile, non-volatile, magnetic, optical, or electrical media, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), or flash memory. The processor may be any suitable processor (e.g., control circuit) adapted to perform the operations, calculations, and/or set of instructions described in the present disclosure...").
The motivation for claim 11 was shown previously in claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Richmond et al. (US 20180055578 A1, published March 1, 2018) discloses tracking the position of the access port and imaging sensor using reflective markers.
Sela et al. (US 20210007825 A1, published January 14, 2021) discloses the active or passive fiducial markers may be placed on tools (e.g. the access port and/or the optical imaging system) to be tracked, to determine the location and orientation of these tools using the tracking camera and navigation system.
Bai et al. (US 20180228553 A1, published August 16, 2018) discloses disposing active or passive fiduciary markers, respectively, e.g., spherical markers, in relation to at least one of the access port or the external scope for facilitating their tracking (location of these tools) by the tracking system.
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 Nyrobi Celestine whose telephone number is 571-272-0129. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday, 7:00AM - 5:00PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Pascal Bui-Pho can be reached on 571-272-2714. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/N.C./Examiner, Art Unit 3798
/PASCAL M BUI PHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3798
