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 § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang.
Regarding claim 1, Lee discloses a nuclear medicine diagnostic device comprising a processing circuit configured to (paragraph 164-165, 181-182; tomography imaging apparatus 800 (nuclear medicine diagnostic device) include PET (nuclear medicine); paragraph 291; image processing of image for diagnosis; paragraph 401; digital computer (processing circuit) executes programs)
extract, in a first image formed as a result of performing gated reconstruction with respect to data obtained by performing scanning of a subject, a region in which body motion is occurring (paragraph 134, 147, 149; scan mode can generate tomography image (nuclear image) that is gated (ECG) for reconstruction; paragraph 165-166; “plurality of partial data” including PET data (nuclear medicine data) obtained by scanning object; paragraph 220, 260; extracting motion occurring in image; paragraph 304-305; user interface screen 1810 includes extraction of first region 1821 using markers as region of motion), and
control a display in such a way that the region is displayed in an identifiable manner in the first image (paragraph 182, 186; display unit 830; paragraph 304-305; user interface screen 1810 displays tomography image 1820 (first nuclear medicine image) that includes extraction of first region 1821 using markers that provides identifiable manner as region of motion).
However Lee does not disclose first nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing reconstruction with respect to nuclear medicine data obtained by performing nuclear medicine scanning of a subject; a first nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing respiratory-gated reconstruction.
Wang discloses first nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing reconstruction with respect to nuclear medicine data obtained by performing nuclear medicine scanning of a subject (paragraph 3; PET uses radioactive tracer (nuclear medicine) taken by subject; paragraph 81; PET scanning of patient (nuclear medicine scanning); paragraph 86; reconstruction of gated PET images (first nuclear medicine image)); a first nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing respiratory-gated reconstruction (paragraph 101-102; gated PET images (first nuclear medicine image) formed as result of reconstruction of gating based on respiratory phase).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Wang to provide generating of respiratory gated images.
The motivation to combine the references is to generate respiratory gated images having matching respiratory phase that eliminates the respiratory motion effects on the image thereby generating quality PET images (paragraph 5, 115, 96).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses a data processing device comprising a processing circuit configured to (paragraph 164-165, 181-182; tomography imaging apparatus 800 (data processing device) include PET (nuclear medicine); paragraph 401; digital computer (processing circuit) executes programs):
in a image formed as a result of performing gated reconstruction with respect data obtained by performing scanning of a subject, extract a region in which body motion is occurring (paragraph 134, 147, 149; scan mode can generate tomography image (nuclear image) that is gated (ECG) for reconstruction; paragraph 165-166; “plurality of partial data” including PET data (nuclear medicine data) obtained by scanning object; paragraph 220, 260; extracting motion occurring in image; paragraph 304-305; user interface screen 1810 includes extraction of first region 1821 using markers as region of motion), and
control a display in such a way that the region is displayed in an identifiable manner in the image (paragraph 182, 186; display unit 830; paragraph 304-305; user interface screen 1810 displays tomography image 1820 (first nuclear medicine image) that includes extraction of first region 1821 using markers that provides identifiable manner as region of motion).
However Lee does not disclose nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing reconstruction with respect to nuclear medicine data obtained by performing nuclear medicine scanning of a subject; a nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing respiratory-gated reconstruction.
Wang discloses nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing reconstruction with respect to nuclear medicine data obtained by performing nuclear medicine scanning of a subject (paragraph 3; PET uses radioactive tracer (nuclear medicine) taken by subject; paragraph 81; PET scanning of patient (nuclear medicine scanning); paragraph 86; reconstruction of gated PET images (first nuclear medicine image)); a nuclear medicine image formed as a result of performing respiratory-gated reconstruction (paragraph 101-102; gated PET images (first nuclear medicine image) formed as result of reconstruction of gating based on respiratory phase).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Wang to provide generating of respiratory gated images.
The motivation to combine the references is to generate respiratory gated images having matching respiratory phase that eliminates the respiratory motion effects on the image thereby generating quality PET images (paragraph 5, 115, 96).
Claim(s) 2, 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang further in view of US 20040249314 to Salla.
Regarding claim 2, Lee does not disclose the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to superimpose color display of the region on the first nuclear medicine image.
Salla discloses wherein the processing circuit is configured to superimpose color display of the region on the first nuclear medicine image (paragraph 19, 20; organ motion (body motion); paragraph 36, 40; composite image of motion map and medical image is superimposed with differential color for motion area/region as shown in Fig. 5 having color in motion area; paragraph 49; PET images gating (nuclear medicine image)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Salla to provide display using superimposition of color on the motion regions.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide differentiation of the motion regions on the image on the display by varying the color/shading to help user to recognize the various levels of motion in the image data displayed (paragraph 30, 36).
Regarding claim 3, Iwase discloses the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 2, wherein, according to magnitude of the body motion, the processing circuit is configured to vary tone of colors displayed in the color display (paragraph 23, 31, 35; motion map indicate amount of motion (magnitude) such as displacement; paragraph 36; composite display with differential color (vary tone of colors) indicating “relative surface motion”(magnitude) ).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang further in view of CN 106097384 to Zhu.
Regarding claim 5, Wang discloses the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to
perform the respiratory-gated reconstruction further based on the nuclear medicine data to generate the first nuclear medicine image (Paragraph 100-102; respiratory gated reconstruction of PET image (first nuclear medicine image) based on PET data (the nuclear medicine data)). However Lee in view of Wang does not disclose wherein the processing circuit is configured to
identify, based on the obtained nuclear medicine data, target data range for gating to be subjected to the respiratory-gated reconstruction, and
perform the respiratory-gated reconstruction based on the identified data range.
Zhu discloses wherein the processing circuit is configured to (paragraph 89; processor 210)
identify, based on the obtained nuclear medicine data, target data range for gating to be subjected to the respiratory-gated reconstruction and perform the respiratory-gated reconstruction based on the identified data range (paragraph 97-102, 127; based on acquired PET data, “location information of each annihilation point” (target data range) is used to generate motion data that is used to determine gating signal for respiratory gated reconstruction of image; paragraph 136 respiratory motion signal used for gating).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Zhu to perform respiratory-gating of image based on data range.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide cost-effective generation of gating for the images without using a complex and costly equipment by generating gating signal based on detection of annihilation points in the PET machine (paragraph 77).
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang further in view of US 20220347493 to Novosad.
Regarding claim 7, Lee does not disclose the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region from the nuclear medicine data using a neural network.
Novosad discloses wherein the processing circuit (paragraph 44; processing circuitry) is configured to extract the region from the nuclear medicine data using a neural network (paragraph 47; PET imaging data (nuclear medicine data) can be used ; paragraph 37, 113, 116-117; region of interest motion information is extracted from captured 2D image by “trained machine learning regression model” (neural network)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Novosad to provide neural network system for extracting regions of motions in the PET data.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide accurate execution of radiotherapy treatment based on extraction of motion of regions of interest using trained neural network model (paragraph 5, 116-117).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang further in view of US 20050129176 to Kokubun.
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region based on signal value of the nuclear medicine data (paragraph 134, 147, 149; scan mode can generate tomography image (nuclear image) that is gated (ECG) for reconstruction; paragraph 165-166; “plurality of partial data” including PET data (nuclear medicine data) obtained by scanning object; paragraph 220, 260; extracting motion occurring in image; paragraph 304-305; user interface screen 1810 includes extraction of first region 1821 using markers as region of motion). However Lee does not disclose wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region based on amount of fluctuation in signal value.
Kokubun discloses wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region based on amount of fluctuation in signal value (paragraph 41; extraction based on amount of variation of integrated value (signal value) associated with amount of motion in portion (region) ).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Kokubun to provide extraction of regions based on signal value.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide generation of reconstructed images having least amount of motion by using integrated value of image data (paragraph 41).
Claim(s) 9, 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20160256127 to Lee in view of US 20200098152 to Wang further in view of JP 2014016710 to Hoshino.
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 1 (paragraph 164-165; tomography imaging apparatus 700 (nuclear medicine diagnostic device)) wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region (paragraph 220, 260; extracting motion occurring in image). However Lee does not disclose wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region by performing principal component analysis.
Hoshino discloses wherein the processing circuit (Paragraph 24; CPU) is configured to extract the region by performing principal component analysis (paragraph 96; principal component analysis results acquired in s202; paragraph 25, 102-104; using principal components analysis to determine whether “window image” (region) includes pedestrian object (extracting pedestrian region)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was made to modify the system of Lee as taught by Hoshino to provide principal component analysis for region extraction.
The motivation to combine the references is to provide robust and accurate detection/extraction of objects of interest in images using principal component analysis that optimizes number of principal components based on high ranks to process the image (paragraph 14, 106).
Regarding claim 10, Hoshino discloses the nuclear medicine diagnostic device according to claim 9, wherein the processing circuit is configured to extract the region based on a factor loading value of a principal component obtained by performing the principal component analysis (paragraph 43, 102-103; “feature vectors” (factor loading value) of the principal components used in the extraction of the pedestrian object in the image when performing the principal component analysis; paragraph 25, 102-104; using principal components analysis to determine whether “window image” (region) includes pedestrian object (extracting pedestrian region)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Other Prior Art Cited
14. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20160163095 to Wollenweber discloses determining motion information in the volume of interest.
US 20090175562 to Pan discloses reconstruction of image data.
US 20250072846 to Lu discloses generating gated PET image data with attenuation correction.
US 20250032062 to Sun discloses generating PET sub-images for the different scan regions.
US 9684973 to Wollenweber discloses determining motion information in the volume of interest.
US 8761467 to Wollenweber discloses display of motion correction of image data.
US 5431161 to Ryals discloses displaying of gated SPECT image.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENIYAM MENBERU whose telephone number is (571) 272-7465. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 10:00am-6:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Akwasi Sarpong can be reached on (571) 270-3438. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the customer service office whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. The group receptionist number for TC 2600 is (571) 272-2600.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only.
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.
For more information about the PAIR system, see <http://pair-direct.uspto.gov/>. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Patent Examiner
Beniyam Menberu
/BENIYAM MENBERU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2681
08/20/2026
Prosecution Insights