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 .
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.
Claims 1-5, 7-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rafaeli et al.(US 2021-0369110 A1 of record).
Regarding claim 1, Rafaeli discloses a retinal imaging system (10, Fig.1, claims 1-3) comprising:
a monocular image sensor adapted to acquire a retinal image of an eye (22
imaging device having implicitly a sensor drawn in Fig.2, see claim 2, para.[0043],
[0049]); and
a binocular eye piece (14) configured to slide relative to the monocular image
sensor and shaped to couple to a face of a user (12), (see para.[0046-0048] and
figures 6-8)
wherein the monocular image sensor is positioned to acquire a first retinal
image of a first eye of the user in a first position of the binocular eye piece and
to acquire a second retinal image of a second eye of the user in a second
position of the binocular eye piece.(see cl3, para. 46 and figures 6,7).
Regarding claim 2, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of Claim 1, wherein a sliding bracket (a repositioning mechanism in para.[0046] and Fig.8
the part of housing on which the part (42) coupled with the (46) slides relative to
the housing, therefore reciprocal sliding movement of the bracket as part of
housing relative to the binocular, Fig.8) coupled to a housing (20) of the retinal
imaging system and slidably coupled to the binocular eye piece (46+42),
wherein the sliding bracket defines a bracket aperture (48, Fig.10) shaped
allow light from an interior portion of the binocular eye piece to pass through the
bracket aperture for receipt by the monocular image sensor.
Regarding claim 3, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of Claim 2, wherein the bracket aperture overlaps with the monocular image sensor (same optical axis, see Fig.9-10).
Regarding claim 4, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 2, wherein the binocular eye piece comprises (see Fig.14-15, para.[0051]) an eye piece reference marker (202, 204), and wherein the sliding bracket (210) comprises: a first bracket reference marker (214) aligning with the eye piece reference marker when the binocular eye piece is in the first position; and a second bracket reference marker (218) aligning with the eye piece reference marker when the binocular eye piece is in the second position.
Regarding claim 5, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 2, wherein the sliding bracket is configured to move along an imaging axis of the monocular image sensor relative to the monocular image sensor (merely a variation of the disclosure of Rafaeli that the viewer assembly (14) is repositionable relative to the housing assembly (20) between a configuration for imaging of the user's right eye and a configuration for imaging of the user's left eye (see paragraph [0046] and figures 6,7)).
Regarding claim 7, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 2, wherein the binocular eye piece comprises: a frame slidably coupled to the sliding bracket; and a compressible edge cushion disposed on an eye-facing edge of the frame and positioned to contact the face of the user (the viewer assembly (14) has an interface surface ( 46) that is configured to engage the user's head continuously along a perimeter segment that surrounds the user's eyes (see paragraph [0047-0048] and figures 8,9).
Regarding claim 8, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 7, wherein the frame defines a frame aperture shaped to overlap with the bracket aperture when the sliding bracket is coupled to the binocular eye piece in both the first position and the second position (an aperture (48) of the imaging device (10) through which the imaging assembly (22) images the eye (30) (see paragraphs [0043],[0049] and figures 2-11)).
Regarding claim 9, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 7, wherein the binocular eye piece is shaped to conform to at least a portion of the face of the user, thereby limiting light entering the interior portion of the binocular eye piece when the face of the user is disposed against the compressible edge cushion (46)(the viewer assembly (14) has an interface surface (compressible edge cushion 46) that is configured to engage the user's head continuously along a perimeter segment that surrounds the user's eyes (see paragraph [0047-0048] and figures 8,9).
Regarding claim 10, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 2, wherein a curvature of an edge of the binocular eye piece matches a curvature of an edge of the sliding bracket (par.[0047]).
Regarding claim 11, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 2, wherein the housing comprises: a first portion carrying the monocular image sensor (house 20); and a second portion (lateral knob in Fig.5 or display 34 also having a rotatable movement by hinge) rotatably coupled to the first portion.
Regarding claim 12, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of Claim 1, wherein the retinal imaging system further comprises: a user interface configured to receive user input; and a controller communicatively coupled to the monocular image sensor and the user interface, the controller including logic that when executed causes the retinal imaging system to perform operations including: soliciting, with the user interface, placement of the binocular eye piece in the first position; determining a sidedness of a first eye of a subject; acquiring, with the monocular image sensor, a retinal image the first eye; soliciting, with the user interface, placement of the binocular eye piece in a position to acquire a retinal image of a second eye of the subject; and acquiring, with the monocular image sensor, a retinal image the second eye (a touch-screen user interface (34) (see paragraph [0045] and figure 5) and the viewer assembly (14) are repositionable relative to the housing assembly (20) between a configuration for imaging of the user's right eye and a configuration for imaging of the user's left eye (see paragraph [0046] and figures 6,7).
Regarding claim 13, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of Claim 1, a forehead rest (upper part of 46) shaped and positioned to contact a forehead of the user when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eyepiece; and a cheek rest (lower two laps of 46) shaped and positioned to contact a cheek of the user when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eye piece, wherein the forehead rest and the cheek rest are shaped and positioned to induce a downward pitch of a head of the user when the forehead and the cheek of the user are disposed against the binocular eye piece (see angled position in Fig.1-2, para.[0042], [0046]).
Regarding claim 14, Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of Claim 1, wherein the binocular eye piece has a cutout shaped to receive a nose of the user (see the shape of lower part of 46 Figs.8-11) when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eye piece and to allow movement of the nose within the cutout (para.[0046-0048]).
Regarding claim 15, Rafaeli discloses a binocular eye piece (14) shaped to couple to a face of a user; a sliding bracket (see a repositioning mechanism in para.[0046] and Fig.8 the part of housing on which the part 42 coupled with the 46 slides relative to the housing, therefore reciprocal sliding movement of the bracket as part of housing relative to the binocular, Fig.8) coupled to a housing (20) of the retinal imaging system and slidably coupled to the binocular eye piece (46+42), wherein the sliding bracket defines a bracket aperture (48, Fig.10) shaped allow light from an interior portion of the binocular eye piece to pass through the bracket aperture for receipt by the monocular image sensor.
Regarding claim 16, Rafaeli discloses the binocular eye piece of claim 15, wherein the bracket aperture is positioned to allow light from a first eye of the user to pass through the bracket aperture in a first position of the binocular eye piece (see figure 6) and to allow light from a second eye of the user to pass through the bracket aperture in a second position of the binocular eye piece (see figure 7)(see cl3, para.[0046] and figures 6,7).
Regarding claim 18, Rafaeli discloses the binocular eyepiece of claim 15, wherein the binocular eye piece comprises: a forehead rest (upper part of 46) shaped and positioned to contact a forehead of the user when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eyepiece; and a cheek rest (lower two laps of 46) shaped and positioned to contact a cheek of the user when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eye piece, wherein the forehead rest and the cheek rest are shaped and positioned to induce a downward pitch of a head of the user when the forehead and the cheek of the user are disposed against the binocular eye piece (see angled position in Fig.1-2, para.[0042], [0046]).
Regarding claim 19, Rafaeli discloses the binocular eyepiece of claim 15, wherein the binocular eye piece has a cutout shaped to receive a nose of the user (see the shape of lower part of 46 Figs.8-11) when the face of the user is disposed against the binocular eye piece and to allow movement of the nose within the cutout (para.[0046-0048]).
Regarding claim 19, Rafaeli discloses a method of imaging retinas of a subject with a retinal imaging system, in Figures 6-8, the method comprising:
soliciting, with a user interface (34, para.50) of the retinal imaging system, placement of a binocular eye piece of the retinal imaging system in a first position (Fig.6);
determining a sidedness of a first eye of the subject (lateral position of the sliding device);
acquiring, with a monocular image sensor of the retinal imaging system, a retinal image the first eye (claim 3);
soliciting, with the user interface, placement of the binocular eye piece in a position to acquire a retinal image of a second eye of the subject (Fig.7); and
acquiring, with the monocular image sensor, a retinal image of the second eye (claims 1-3 and 16; Figures 6-8).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rafaeli, as applied to claim 5 above, in view of Myung et al.(US 20200008673 A1 of record).
Rafaeli discloses the retinal imaging system of claim 5. However, Rafaeli does not disclose at least two stanchions coupled to the sliding bracket, wherein the at least two stanchions are slidably received by the housing and configured to move the sliding bracket relative to the housing along the imaging axis. Myung et al. discloses at least two stanchions coupled to the sliding bracket, wherein the at least two stanchions are slidably received by the housing and configured to move the sliding bracket relative to the housing along the imaging axis (merely a variation of Myung’s device such as a base shaft (116) and telescoping shaft (118) configured to move relative to one another to modify the length of the posterior portion (106) (see paragraph [0087] and figure 1)). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teaching of Myung to device of Rafaeli in order to modify the length of the posterior portion.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rafaeli, as applied to claim 15 above, in view of Wood et al.(US 2013-0128223 A1 of record).
Rafaeli discloses the binocular eyepiece of claim 1. However, Rafaeli does not disclose wherein the sliding bracket comprises a mounting attachment configured to releaseably attach to a housing of the retinal imaging system. Wood et al. discloses (a patient interface (2050) in the form of an eye cup is releasably attached to the distal end (2006) of the housing (2004) (see paragraph [0113] and figure 10). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before effective filing date of the claimed invention, to apply teachings of Wood et al. to device of Rafaeli for purpose of forming a binocular eyepiece device.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TUYEN TRA whose telephone number is (571)272-2343. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6.
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/TUYEN TRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872
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