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 .
Double Patenting
Claim(s) 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim(s) 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,167,940
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because ‘247 is broader in scope than ‘940, but all limitations are present in a corresponding claim in ‘940.
Table 1 below shows an example claim mapping between the present application and U.S. Patent No. 12,167,940
Table 2 below lists corresponding claims between the present application and U.S. Patent No. 12,167,940
Table 1. Example Claim Mapping
18/937,247
US Patent No. 12,167,940
1. A method for performing image-guided surgery, the method comprising:
obtaining image data of a patient using an imaging device;
associating a first portion of the image data with a reference marker device fixed to a first location on the patient;
associating a second portion of the image data with a second location on the patient;
displaying at least a portion of the image data of the patient on a display screen of a movable display device;
tracking movement of the movable display device with respect to the reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient; and
modifying the image data displayed on the display screen of the movable display device in response to relative movement occurring between the movable display device and the reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient.
1. A method for performing image-guided surgery using multiple reference marker devices fixed to a patient, the method comprising:
obtaining image data of a patient using an imaging device;
associating a first portion of the image data with a first reference marker device fixed to a first location on the patient;
associating a second portion of the image data with a second reference marker device fixed to a second location on the patient;
displaying at least a portion of the image data of the patient on a display screen of a movable display device;
tracking movement of the movable display device with respect to at least one of the first reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient and the second reference marker device fixed to the second location on the patient; and
modifying the image data displayed on the display screen of the movable display device in response to relative movement occurring between the movable display device and one or more of the first reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient and the second reference marker device fixed to the second location on the patient.
Table 2. Corresponding Claims
18/937,247
US Patent No. 12,167,940
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A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
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.
Use of indicates a limitation is not explicitly disclosed by the reference alone.
Claim(s) 1-11, 13-14, 17-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarvestani (US 2010/0039506) in view of Yang (US 2016/0030131)
Claim 1
Sarvestani discloses a method for performing image-guided surgery, the method comprising:
obtaining image data of a patient using an imaging device (Fig. 1; ¶ 41: “optical reference marker 60 detectable by the camera 24.”);
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associating a first portion of the image data with a reference marker device fixed to a first location on the patient (e.g. 40; ¶ 41: “ the optical reference marker 60 is used for tracking movement of the patient relative to the camera 24. One or more reference units 40 can be used to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art.”);
associating a second portion of the image data with a second location on the patient (Sarvestani, ¶ 13, 54: “The method further includes the steps of identifying the position of the reference unit with respect to a coordinate system of the image data set, acquiring a visual image of an exterior surface of the body that includes the unique representation of the reference unit, identifying the position of the reference unit in the visual image, and matching the spatial position of the reference unit in the image data set with the spatial position of the reference unit in the visual image to automatically register the image data set with the visual image of the body….a coordinate system 102 of each reference unit 40'a-40'd with respect to a single coordinate system 94 of the image data set 82 (see FIG. 15). The distinguishing feature 96 provides one unique known orientation of the optical pattern 64 with respect to a three-dimensional x-y-z coordinate system 102 of each individual reference unit 40'a, 40'b, 40'c, and 40'd, which allows the location and orientation of the coordinate system 102 to be identifiable from any viewpoint from which the entire optical pattern 64 is visible. Also, the position and orientation of each unique reference unit 40'a-40'd is known with respect to the orientation of the patient 34. Therefore, the navigation system 20 can recognize each reference unit 40'a-40'd separately by means of appropriate image data extraction software implemented by the CPU 50 and can identify uniquely the location, orientation, and scale of each reference unit 40'a-40'd with respect to the coordinate system of the camera 24.”);
displaying at least a portion of the image data of the patient on a display screen of a movable display device (¶ 54: “In the embodiment of FIGS. 12-16, the acquisition of the visible image 80 and the image data set 82 and the registration procedure are performed in the same way as described above. The first step comprises affixing the reference units 40' to the body of the patient 34 prior to the acquisition of the image data set 82. As shown in FIG. 13, four unique reference units 40'a, 40'b, 40'c, and 40'd are fixed to the head of the patient 34, such as with adhesive. The optical patterns 64 of the reference units 40'a-40'd comprise distinguishing features 96 in the form of different numbers "I, II, III, and IV" located at the corners of the reference units 40'a-40'd, respectively. After acquisition of the image data set 82 is accomplished, the coordinates of the radiopaque reference markers 66 are determined to establish the predetermined points 86 of the image data set 82 (see FIG. 14). Then, the camera 24 acquires a visual image 80 of the patient 34 and the centers of the optical patterns 64 are determined within the visual image 80.”);
tracking movement of the movable display device with respect to the reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient (e.g. 40; ¶ 41: “ the optical reference marker 60 is used for tracking movement of the patient relative to the camera 24. One or more reference units 40 can be used to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art.”);; and
modifying the image data displayed on the display screen of the movable display device in response to relative movement occurring between the movable display device and the reference marker device fixed to the first location on the patient (¶ 39: “The reference unit 40 may serve as a tracking device to compensate for movements of the patient with respect to the monitor unit”).
Sarvestani does not explicitly disclose, but Yang discloses associating position (¶ 4: “Generally, these fiducial markers are aligned to a 3D representation of the body, which may be acquired by different imaging modalities. This 3D representation, usually acquired before surgery, may include a specific region, such as a vertebral column, to a scan of the entire body. Within this 3D representation, areas of interest are located and matched to the fiducial markers in the real surgical space. This results in a coordinate system transform that maps the relative position of the region of interest to the location of the fiducial markers to provide visual feedback to the clinician during surgery. The surgeon can then use this information to facilitate guidance to a specific location in the body that is related to the region of interest in the image.”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to associate position.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to associate specific structures with the corresponding imagery. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because both references uses markers for surgical operations.
Claim 2
Sarvestani discloses wherein modifying the image data includes selecting between display of one or more first patient images of the first portion of the image data and one or more second patient images of the second portion of the image data based on a proximity of the movable display device to the first location (Sarvestani, ¶ 13, 54: “The method further includes the steps of identifying the position of the reference unit with respect to a coordinate system of the image data set, acquiring a visual image of an exterior surface of the body that includes the unique representation of the reference unit, identifying the position of the reference unit in the visual image, and matching the spatial position of the reference unit in the image data set with the spatial position of the reference unit in the visual image to automatically register the image data set with the visual image of the body….a coordinate system 102 of each reference unit 40'a-40'd with respect to a single coordinate system 94 of the image data set 82 (see FIG. 15). The distinguishing feature 96 provides one unique known orientation of the optical pattern 64 with respect to a three-dimensional x-y-z coordinate system 102 of each individual reference unit 40'a, 40'b, 40'c, and 40'd, which allows the location and orientation of the coordinate system 102 to be identifiable from any viewpoint from which the entire optical pattern 64 is visible. Also, the position and orientation of each unique reference unit 40'a-40'd is known with respect to the orientation of the patient 34. Therefore, the navigation system 20 can recognize each reference unit 40'a-40'd separately by means of appropriate image data extraction software implemented by the CPU 50 and can identify uniquely the location, orientation, and scale of each reference unit 40'a-40'd with respect to the coordinate system of the camera 24.”)
Claim 3
Sarvestani discloses detecting a relative movement between the reference marker device and another reference marker device fixed to the patient; and (Sarvestani, ¶ 39: “The camera 24 detects the reference unit 40 within an aperture angle 42 about the focal axis of the camera (generally coincident with the line indicating distance 44), wherein the aperture angle 42 and a distance 44 of the camera 24 from an object, such as the patient 32, defines the viewing area 28. The reference unit 40 may serve as a tracking device to compensate for movements of the patient with respect to the monitor unit 32 (according to one embodiment described with respect to FIGS. 12-16) and can be used to register the patient relative to the monitor unit 32, as will be described in more detail hereinafter. Further, the reference unit 40 may serve only as a registration device (such as shown in FIGS. 4-11) and there may be three or more such reference units located on the patient.”)
Sarvestani does not disclose, but Yang discloses notifying a user when the relative movement is greater than a threshold value (Yang, ¶ 159: “he confidence criteria can, for example, be a fixed registration error threshold or variable registration error threshold that can be set, for example, by the surgeon preoperatively or inter-operatively. If the confidence criteria is not met, the surgeon may be asked to clear the field of view (for example, move away objects situated between the cameras and the surgical field), remove debris (for example, blood and tissue resting on top of the surface of interest), adjustment of the angle of the camera 12 or other methods to increase exposure of the bony surface of the vertebrae.”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider a threshold as claimed.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to respond to registration errors in order to re-orient the display. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani also considers registration and subsequent tracking through movement.
Claim 4
Sarvestani discloses further comprising determining whether the reference marker device has moved relative to the patient (Sarvestani, ¶ 41: “The optical reference marker 60 is recognized by the navigation system 20 by using, for example, software that implements standard pattern matching algorithms such as "iterative closest points," and serves as a registration pattern to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24. In some embodiments, the optical reference marker 60 is used for tracking movement of the patient relative to the camera 24. One or more reference units 40 can be used to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art.”)
Claim 5
Sarvestani discloses wherein the reference marker device is visible in the image data (Sarvestani, ¶ 41: “The optical pattern 64 is characterized by alternating angular light and dark contrast area”)
Claim 6
Sarvestani does not disclose, but Yan discloses further comprising performing a registration correction in response to determining that the reference marker device has moved relative to the patient (Yang, ¶ 140, 159: “ther external factors that can cause a shift in the vertebrae during the surgical procedure include movement of the subject or change in position of the spine relative to the position determined from the preoperative CT scan data….he confidence criteria can, for example, be a fixed registration error threshold or variable registration error threshold that can be set, for example, by the surgeon preoperatively or inter-operatively. If the confidence criteria is not met, the surgeon may be asked to clear the field of view (for example, move away objects situated between the cameras and the surgical field), remove debris (for example, blood and tissue resting on top of the surface of interest), adjustment of the angle of the camera 12 or other methods to increase exposure of the bony surface of the vertebrae.”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider a threshold as claimed.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to respond to registration errors in order to re-orient the display. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani also considers registration and subsequent tracking through movement.
Claim 7
Sarvestani does not disclose, but Yand discloses wherein the registration correction is performed without re-scanning the patient to obtain additional patient images (Yang, ¶ 159: “he confidence criteria can, for example, be a fixed registration error threshold or variable registration error threshold that can be set, for example, by the surgeon preoperatively or inter-operatively. If the confidence criteria is not met, the surgeon may be asked to clear the field of view (for example, move away objects situated between the cameras and the surgical field), remove debris (for example, blood and tissue resting on top of the surface of interest), adjustment of the angle of the camera 12 or other methods to increase exposure of the bony surface of the vertebrae.”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider a threshold as claimed.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to respond to registration errors in order to re-orient the display. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani also considers registration and subsequent tracking through movement.
Claim 8
Sarvestani discloses wherein the image data comprises a portion of a three-dimensional dataset of anatomy of the patient; and further comprising displaying a second image of the patient obtained by a camera on the movable display device on the display screen, wherein the portion of a three-dimensional dataset of anatomy of the patient is displayed overlaying the second image (Sarvestani ¶ 43: “as 2-dimensional X-ray, CT, MR, and/or PET. In one embodiment, the image data set 82 is displayed on the display monitor 22 superimposed on the visible image 80 of the patient 34. In another embodiment, the visible image 80 and the image data set 82 can be displayed next to each other or alternately switched.”)
Claim 9
Sarvestani discoses wherein the second image comprises a real-time video image of the patient (Sarvestani, ¶ 48: “During a surgical procedure, for example, one or more reference units 40 attached to the patient 34 are continuously tracked by the camera 24. If any movement takes place, for example, movement of the patient 34 or movement of the monitor unit 32, the navigation system 20 includes appropriate software and/or hardware capable of automatically extracting the movement from the video images in a manner known to one skilled in the art and of compensating for such movement so that the image data set 82 is continuously adapted to the position and orientation of the patient 34 with respect to the angle of view and the aperture angle 42 of the camera 24.”)
Claim 10
Sarvestani discloses wherein the portion of the three-dimensional dataset comprises a three-dimensional volume rendering of a portion anatomy of the patient visible in the second image (Sarvestani, ¶ 48: “Examples of such automatic image data extraction technology include computer software that implements "surface rendering" and "threshold based volume segmentation," and other automatic image data extraction technology may also or alternatively be used. Consequently, when the monitor unit 32 is moved around the patient 22 or vice versa, the operator 36 can see the internal structures 84 from the image data set 82 and the additional information, such as cut locations, tool trajectory paths, and/or other information, from different directions and angles corresponding to the view of the camera 24.”)
Claim 11
Sarvestani discloses further comprising: performing a calibration process to match the three-dimensional volume rendering to a view of the patient in the second image; and updating the three-dimensional volume rendering based on movement of the camera relative to the patient (registration corresponding to calibration; Sarvestani, ¶ 48: “Examples of such automatic image data extraction technology include computer software that implements "surface rendering" and "threshold based volume segmentation," and other automatic image data extraction technology may also or alternatively be used. Consequently, when the monitor unit 32 is moved around the patient 22 or vice versa, the operator 36 can see the internal structures 84 from the image data set 82 and the additional information, such as cut locations, tool trajectory paths, and/or other information, from different directions and angles corresponding to the view of the camera 24.”)
Claim 13
Sarvestani discloses wherein the three-dimensional dataset comprises at least one of an x-ray computed tomography (CT) reconstruction and a magnetic resonance (MR) image data (Sarvestani ¶ 43: “as 2-dimensional X-ray, CT, MR, and/or PET. In one embodiment, the image data set 82 is displayed on the display monitor 22 superimposed on the visible image 80 of the patient 34. In another embodiment, the visible image 80 and the image data set 82 can be displayed next to each other or alternately switched.”)
Claim 14
Sarvestani discloses wherein displaying image data on the display screen of the movable display device comprises: determining at least one of a first position and a first orientation of the movable display device with respect to the reference marker device (Sarvestani, ¶ 41: “The optical reference marker 60 is recognized by the navigation system 20 by using, for example, software that implements standard pattern matching algorithms such as "iterative closest points," and serves as a registration pattern to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24. In some embodiments, the optical reference marker 60 is used for tracking movement of the patient relative to the camera 24. One or more reference units 40 can be used to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art.”); and displaying a first portion of the three-dimensional dataset of anatomy of the patient on the display screen based on the determined a least one of the first position and the first orientation of the movable display device (registration corresponding to calibration; Sarvestani, ¶ 48: “Examples of such automatic image data extraction technology include computer software that implements "surface rendering" and "threshold based volume segmentation," and other automatic image data extraction technology may also or alternatively be used. Consequently, when the monitor unit 32 is moved around the patient 22 or vice versa, the operator 36 can see the internal structures 84 from the image data set 82 and the additional information, such as cut locations, tool trajectory paths, and/or other information, from different directions and angles corresponding to the view of the camera 24.”)
Claim 17
Sarvestani discloses wherein displaying the first portion of the three-dimensional dataset comprises displaying a three-dimensional rendering of anatomy of the patient in a first view based on the first position and/or the first orientation of the movable display device with respect to the patient; and wherein modifying at least a portion of the image data displayed on the display screen comprises displaying the three-dimensional rendering of anatomy of the patient in a second view based on a detected second position and/or orientation of the movable display device with respect to the patient (Sarvestani, ¶ 34, 41: “The optical reference marker 60 is recognized by the navigation system 20 by using, for example, software that implements standard pattern matching algorithms such as "iterative closest points," and serves as a registration pattern to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24. In some embodiments, the optical reference marker 60 is used for tracking movement of the patient relative to the camera 24. One or more reference units 40 can be used to correlate the position of the patient 34 relative to the camera 24, as would be apparent to one of skill in the art…. Further, when the monitor unit is moved around the patient (or vice versa) the observer can view the internal structure of the patient from different directions and angles as if the observer were looking directly through the outer surface or skin of the patient through the camera. Still further, the rigid combination of the monitor and the camera in the monitor unit provides a global reference system that operates as a stand-alone navigation system that does not require additional tracking devices for the camera and/or monitor.”)
Claim 18
Sarvestani discloses wherein the movable display device is further defined as a handheld display device (Sarvestani, ¶ 42: “monitor unit 32 can be a hand-held device that is wireless and battery-powered (see, e.g., FIG. 11).”)
Claim 19
Sarvestani discloses wherein the handheld display device comprises at least one of a tablet computer, a smartphone, and a pendant controller (handheld device 32 would fall withing the scope of tablet; Sarvestani, ¶ 42: “monitor unit 32 can be a hand-held device that is wireless and battery-powered (see, e.g., FIG. 11).”)
Claim 20
Sarvestani does not explicitly disclose, but Yang discloses further comprising displaying the image data of the patient on a second display screen (Yang, ¶ 230: “For example, the position and orientation of a patient phantom can be determined using its 3D topology. Through augmented reality using head mounted displays, or other forms of displays, that are tracked in space, different clinical scenarios”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider a second display.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to allow multiple surgeons, training and similar operations. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani considers augmented reality in the same context.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarvestani (US 2010/0039506) in view of Yang (US 2016/0030131) and Razzaque (US 2014/0142426)
Claim 12
Sarvestani does not disclose, but Razzaque discloses further comprising adjusting a transparency of the three-dimensional volume rendering relative to the second image on the movable display device in response to a user input (e.g. changing display parameters; ¶ 97: “For example, they may be rendered with different transparencies, brightnesses, contrast, colors, etc. Further, one or the other may be rendered with a different transparency, brightness, contrast or color as distance from the region of interest increases. For example, brightness may decrease and/or transparency may increase further from the region of interest”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider adjustment of transparency.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to adjust what is displayed depending on application, during operation. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani considers augmented reality in the same context.
Claim(s) 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarvestani (US 2010/0039506) in view of Yang (US 2016/0030131) and Piron (US 2015/0351860)
Claim 15
Sarvestani does not disclose but Piron discloses wherein displaying the first portion of the three-dimensional dataset comprises displaying at least one two-dimensional slice of the three-dimensional dataset of anatomy of the patient in at least one first plane defined by the first position and/or the first orientation of the movable display device with respect to the patient (Piron, ¶ 59: “An exemplary plan, as outlined above, may compose of pre-operative 3D imaging data (i.e., MRI, CT, Ultrasound, etc) and overlaying on it, received inputs (i.e., sulci entry points, target locations, surgical outcome criteria, additional 3D image data information) and displaying one or more trajectory paths based on the calculated score for a projected surgical path. It should be noted that 3D images may be comprised of 3 spatial dimensions. In another embodiment, the 3 dimensions may be comprised of 2 spatial dimensions (as in the case of MR ‘slice’ images as acquired by conventional MR equipment)…; and wherein modifying at least a portion of the image data displayed on the display screen comprises displaying the at least one two-dimensional slice of the three-dimensional dataset of anatomy of the patient in at least one second plane defined by a detected second position and/or orientation of the movable display device with respect to the patient (Piron, ¶ 48: “he output may be shown in axial, sagittal and coronal views (or views oriented relative to the tracked instrument such as perpendicular to tool tip, in-plane of tool shaft, etc.) as part of a multi-view display.”).
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider planar views.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to display slices from different orientations suited to the desired view. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani considers 3D imagery.
Claim 16
Sarvestani does not disclose but Piron discloses wherein the at least one two-dimensional slice comprises at least one of an axial, sagittal, and coronal slice of anatomy of the patient; and wherein the at least one two-dimensional slice comprises a coronal slice in a plane offset from the movable display device by a predetermined distance (Piron, ¶ 48: “The output may be shown in axial, sagittal and coronal views (or views oriented relative to the tracked instrument such as perpendicular to tool tip, in-plane of tool shaft, etc.) as part of a multi-view display.”)
Before the effective filing date of this application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to consider plane views.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have motivation to display slices from different orientations suited to the desired view. One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success because Sarvestani considers 3D imagery.
Additional Prior Art
Additional prior art relevant to Applicant’s disclosure but not relied upon:
Crawford (US 2013/0345718) also discloses marker based registration:
“In some embodiments, during tracking, the desired trajectory can be first calculated in the medical image coordinate system, then transformed to the robot 15 coordinate system based at least on known relative locations of active markers. For example, in some embodiments, conventional light-emitting markers and/or conventional reflective markers associated with an optical tracking system 3417 can be used (see for example active markers 720 in FIG. 20A)” (¶ 174).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN M GRAY whose telephone number is (571)272-4582. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday, 9:00am-5:30pm (EST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kee Tung can be reached on (571)272-7794. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RYAN M GRAY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2611
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