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
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)(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.
Claims 1-7, 10-14, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Farkash et al. (US 2022/0338723).
Farkash shows an oral health self-monitoring system for use with a smartphone camera (Fig. 1A) comprises a camera guide (at 111 in Fig. 1A) to support the camera and to aim the camera into the oral cavity (Fig. 10 shows resulting picture of this arrangement). With respect to claim 2, further comprising a processor programmed and operable to determine the oral health based on images received from the camera of the oral cavity ([0027], [0121], [0126]). With respect to claim 3, further comprising a UV light source ([0120]), and wherein the system is operable to aim UV light into the oral cavity ([0120]-[0121]). With respect to claim 4, wherein the processor is programmed and operable to compute the oral heath using a trained machine learning model ([0121] “machine learning algorithm”). With respect to claim 5, wherein the camera guide comprises the UV light source to emit the UV light ([0120]; included in the apparatus). With respect to claim 6, wherein the processor is a component of a server in communication with the smart phone ([0027], [0121] discusses uploading to a remote site/processor or cloud server). With respect to claim 7, wherein the camera guide comprises a mouth retractor (113 in Fig. 1A; [0080] discusses its use as a retractor between the lips and gums). With respect to claim 10, further comprising a member to hold the smart phone to the camera guide (at 111 in Fig. 1A), and wherein the member is a shelf, channel or band (channel within 111 that receives the phone 101; alternatively, Fig. 19B also shows a channel in a different configuration).
Apparatus claims 11-14, 16-20 are rejected similarly to the above and additionally a camera adapter being the equivalent to the “member to hold the smart phone” of claim 10 above. With respect to claim 12, further comprising the camera (101 in Fig. 1A has the camera), and wherein the camera adapter is shaped to house a dedicated camera (dedicated camera/smartphone shown housed in Fig. 1A). With respect to claim 13, wherein the camera is a smart phone camera (101), and wherein the camera adapter has a hollow tubular shape (at 105 in Fig. 1A) and a front window (seen at 107 in Fig. 1B), and the camera adapter mechanically cooperates with the smart phone to align the smart phone camera with the front window in the camera adapter when the smart phone is secured to the camera adapter (secured state shown in Fig. 1A). With respect to claim 14, wherein camera adapter is detachable from the guide ([0087]-[0088] discusses detachment of this portion). With respect to claim 16, further comprising at least one light source for emitting light ([0120]), and wherein the camera is operable to obtain images through the camera guide (Fig. 10 shows an image that may be obtained). With respect to claim 17, further comprising a processor programmed and operable to determine oral health of the user based on the images, wherein the oral health includes evaluating for the presence of at least one selected from the group consisting of caries, plaque, tartar, and implants ([0121]). With respect to claim 18, wherein the processor is remote or cloud-based ([0121]). With respect to claim 19, further comprising a portable computing device programmed and operable to manage the camera for taking and obtaining the images (smart phone is connected to its camera and is a portable computing device), and for sending the images to the processor for determining the oral health of the user ([0121]). With respect to claim 20, wherein the portable computing device is a smart phone, tablet, or laptop (smartphone 101).
(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 11-13, 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chambers et al. (US 2022/0338727).
Chambers shows an oral health self-monitoring system for use with a camera comprising a camera guide (201) and a camera adapter (202) to support the camera and to aim the camera into the oral cavity (Fig. 1). With respect to claim 12, further comprising the camera and wherein the camera adapter is shaped to house a dedicated camera (smartphone with dedicated camera 102). With respect to claim 13, the camera is a smart phone camera (102) and wherein the camera adapter has a hollow tubular shape (101) and a front window (where camera looks through), and the adapter mechanically cooperates with the phone to align the camera with the front window when secures (Fig. 1). With respect to claim 15, further comprising a strap to couple the smart phone to the camera adapter (rest of band 202 to couple as in Fig. 1).
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 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farkash in view of Uno (US 2023/0274431).
Farkash discloses the device as previously described above and the images comprise RGB images ([0076]) and UV images are used for health detection (see above), but fails to show the system comprises a first model for detecting locations of each of the teeth using the images and a second model for evaluating the health of each of the teeth locations based (a) on the locations detected using the first model and (b) the images.
Uno similarly teaches dental image processing where a first model for detecting locations of each of the teeth using RGB/color images ([0066], [0068], [0153]) and a second model for evaluating the health of each of the teeth locations based (a) on the locations detected using the first model (in order to assign tooth states to the formula numbers) and (b) the images ([0068]; image processing to arrive at the tooth states/health). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Farkash’s device by utilizing the teeth location detecting and assigning of health status as taught by Uno in order to automate the identification and indication of tooth health that may then be confirmed by a dentist ([0153] for instance).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW NELSON whose telephone number is (571)270-5898. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5:00pm EDT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please contact the examiner’s supervisor, Eric Rosen, at (571) 270-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW M NELSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3772