CTNF 18/937,937 CTNF 87522 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 § 112 07-30-02 AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. 07-34-01 Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites: A receive coil unit comprising: a receive coil of which one end side of a table, on which a subject is placed, is attached to one side portion among both side portions of the table, that has one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels, and that has a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet; and a fixing member that is attached to the other side portion opposite to the one side portion of the table, that has a locking member locked to the member to be locked, and that fixes the receive coil to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member . The meaning of the language “a receive coil of which one end side of a table, on which a subject is placed, is attached to one side portion among both side portions of the table, that has one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels, and that has a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet” is not clear. In particular, the language “a receive coil of which one end side …” implies that the one end side is a feature of the receive coil, but the language “of a table” implies that the one end side is a feature of a table. As best understood by the examiner, this language is intending to describe a structural arrangement such as set forth in paragraph 65 of the specification. For purposes of compact prosecution, the examiner is interpreting this language as follows: a receive coil comprising one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels and a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet, wherein one end side of the receive coil is attached to one side portion among both side portions of a table on which a subject is to be placed. Further, the claim does not affirmatively set forth the table as an element of the claimed receive coil unit. Nevertheless, the table at least implicitly appears to be a required element of the claimed invention insofar as the claim (as interpreted above) requires attachment of the one end of the receive coil to the one side portion of the table, and further requires attachment of the fixing member to the other side portion of the table. Therefore, for purposes of the present examination, “a table on which a subject is to be placed” is interpreted as a required element of the claimed receive coil. Clarification is required so that the scope of the claim is clear. Claims 2-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) by virtue of their dependence from claim 1. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-12-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim s 1, 4, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by US 2013/0320982 to Bulumulla et al. (Bulumulla) . Regarding claim 1, Bulumulla discloses a receive coil unit comprising: a receive coil of which one end side of a table, on which a subject is placed, is attached to one side portion among both side portions of the table, that has one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels, and that has a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet ( note interpretation of this language discussed above in connection with 112(b) rejection of claim 1 ; Bulumulla, e.g., Figs. 2, 3a, 4a-4b and 5a-5c; with reference to Fig. 2 and paragraph 28, receive coil in the form of adaptable first sheet of coils 202 including a plurality of sub coil channels in the form of plurality of coils 204 that are disposed on/inside one or more layers of flexible substrate 206; with reference to Figs. 3a and 4a-4b and paragraph 46, note that first sheet of coils 202 includes a member to be locked on a surface of the sheet of coils 202 in the form any one of a plurality of holes 410, with the holes 410 located along the length and on both the sides 402, 404 of the first sheet of coils 202; note that first set of rotatable bodies 310', 310'' have the teeth 320 that penetrate through one or more of the holes 410 in order to hold the first sheet of coils 202 tightly and prevents slippage, as well as formation of wrinkles or crumples on the first sheet of coils 202; with reference to Figs. 5a-5c and paragraphs 48-50, user 502, for example, pulls out the portion of the first sheet of coils 202 based upon the size of the patient 12 and covers the patient 12 with the pulled out portion of the first sheet of coils 202; subsequent to covering the patient 12, the user 502 fastens the first end 302 using a fastener (not shown); note that the first end 302, for example, is fastened on the surface near the second edge 216 of the cradle 22, with Bulumulla’s cradle 22 constituting a table as claimed; Bulumulla therefore discloses a receive coil comprising one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels and a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet, wherein one end side of the receive coil is attached to one side portion among both side portions of a table on which a subject is to be placed; the examiner notes in Fig. 5c that the user 502 fastening the first end 302 using a fastener to the cradle 22 corresponds to one end side of the receive coil being attached to one side portion of a table on which a subject is to be placed as claimed); and a fixing member that is attached to the other side portion opposite to the one side portion of the table, that has a locking member locked to the member to be locked, and that fixes the receive coil to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member (see Bulumulla as applied above, e.g., Figs. 3a and 4a-4b and paragraph 46, fixing member in the form of at least one of the first set of rotatable bodies 310', 310'' attached to the opposite side of the cradle 22 and having a locking member in the form of the teeth 320 that penetrate through one or more of the holes 410 in order to hold the first sheet of coils 202 tightly and prevents slippage; with reference to Figs. 3a, 4a-4b and 5a-5c, the teeth 320 of the first set of rotatable bodies 310', 310'” fix the first sheet of coils 202 to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the holes 410 with respect to the teeth 320). Regarding claim 4, Bulumulla discloses wherein the fixing member has an escape hole for leading an extra length portion of the receive coil after length adjustment to an outside of the table (Bulumulla, e.g., Fig. 3a and paragraph 32, slit 209 through which an extra portion of the first sheet of coils 202 not required for imaging is guided outside of the examination area of the table; additionally, or in the alternative, in Fig. 3a space/gap between rotatable body 310 and rotatable body 314 through which an extra portion of the first sheet of coils 202 not required for imaging is received/stored outside of the examination area of the table). Regarding claim 5, Bulumulla discloses wherein the receive coil is foldable (see Bulumulla as applied to claim 1, it is implicit that the first sheet of coils 202 is capable of being folded). Regarding claim 7, Bulumulla discloses a medical image diagnosis system comprising: the receive coil unit according to claim 1; and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (see Bulumulla as applied to claim 1, noting Fig. 1 of Bulumulla) . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-3, 5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2012/0161768 to Hardy et al. (Hardy) in view of Bulumulla . Regarding claim 1, Hardy discloses a receive coil unit comprising: a receive coil of which one end side of a table, on which a subject is placed, is attached to one side portion among both side portions of the table, that has one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels, and that has a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet ( note interpretation of this language discussed above in connection with 112(b) rejection of claim 1 ; Hardy, e.g., Figs. 2-3 and paragraphs 31-41, receive coil comprising one sheet accommodating a plurality of sub coil channels in the form of flexible substrate 62 fashioned in the form of a blanket of coils 64 and having a member to be locked provided on a surface of the sheet in the form of a fastener 82, e.g., Velcro; note in Figs. 2-3 that one end side of the flexible substrate 62 is attached to one side portion among both side portions of a table in the form of patient cradle 66 on which a subject is to be placed); and a fixing member that is attached to the other side portion opposite to the one side portion of the table, that has a locking member locked to the member to be locked , and that fixes the receive coil to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member (Hardy, e.g., Figs. 2-3 and paragraphs 31-41, fixing member in the form of second section 84 of the blanket that is attached to the other side portion opposite to the one side portion of the patient cradle 66, with the second section 84 of the blanket having a locking member in the form of fastener 86). Hardy discloses that the blanket of coils may be configured to accommodate a wide array of patient sizes (Hardy, e.g., paragraph 42), but is not relied upon as explicitly disclosing that the fixing member fixes the receive coil to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member . In closely related art, Bulumulla discloses the use of a receive coil in the form of adaptable first sheet of coils 202 including a plurality of sub coil channels in the form of plurality of coils 204 that are disposed on/inside one or more layers of flexible substrate 206 (Bulumulla, e.g. Fig. 2 and paragraph 28). The examiner notes that Bulumulla’s adaptable first sheet of coils 202 functionally constitutes a blanket of coils analogous to the coil blanket of Hardy. Advantageously, Bulumulla discloses that the usable portion of the adaptable first sheet of coils 202 can be adjusted to accommodate patients of different sizes. For example, in connection with Figs. 6a-b, Bulumulla discloses that the requisite expanse of the first sheet of coils 202 may vary based upon the size and geometry of the patient 12 (Bulumulla, e.g. paragraph 51). For example, as shown in FIGS. 6a and 6b, when a patient 602 is bigger in size and geometry in comparison to a patient 604, a bigger expanse 606 of the first sheet of coils 202 is required to cover the patient 602 in comparison to a smaller expanse 608 that is required to cover the smaller patient 604 (Bulumulla, e.g. paragraph 51). One of ordinary skill would understand from Bulumulla’s disclosure that this adjustability is realized providing a member to be locked on a surface of the first sheet of coils 202 (e.g., plurality of holes 410 such as shown in Figs. 4A-4B of Bulumulla) and suitably adjusting the attachment point of the member to be locked relative to a locking member in the form of rotatable bodies 310', 310'' having teeth 320 that penetrate through one or more of the holes 410 (see, e.g., Figs. 3a and 4a-4b of Bulumulla). One of ordinary skill in the art would further understand that the general concept of Bulumulla (the requisite expanse of the coils may vary based upon the size and geometry of the patient, and that such adjustment/variation may be realized by providing different points of attachment) may analogously be extended to Hardy’s arrangement either by suitably increasing the sizes of Hardy’s fasteners 82, 86 (e.g., Velcro fasteners) or by providing additional fasteners 82 and/or additional fasters 86 so as to provide different attachments points in order to obtain the advantage of varying/adjusting the expanse of blanket of coils 64 in order to accommodate patients of different sizes. Such reasoning falls well withing the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ in light of the specific teachings of Hardy and Bulumulla, and in view of well-known and conventional properties of Velcro fasteners of the type disclosed by Hardy. It 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 to modify Hardy by either by increasing the sizes of fasteners 82, 86 (e.g., Velcro fasteners) or by providing additional fasteners 82 and/or additional fasters 86 so as to provide different attachments points, thereby obtaining a fixing member that fixes the receive coil to be length-adjustable by adjusting a locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member. In this way, the requisite expanse of the coils may be varied/adjusted based upon the size and geometry of the patient. Regarding claim 2, Hardy in view of Bulumulla discloses wherein the member to be locked and the locking member are surface fasteners (see Hardy as applied to claim 1, noting that fasteners 82, 86 may be Velcro, which is a surface fastener). Regarding claim 3, Hardy in view of Bulumulla discloses wherein the member to be locked is provided on a surface opposite to a surface on a subject side among two front and back surfaces of the sheet (see Hardy as applied to claim 1, noting that fasteners 82 is disposed on a surface of flexible substrate 62 fashioned in the form of a blanket of coils 64 that is opposite to a surface flexible substrate 62 facing patient 12). Regarding claim 4, Hardy in view of Bulumulla as applied to claim 1 is not relied upon as explicitly disclosing wherein the fixing member has an escape hole for leading an extra length portion of the receive coil after length adjustment to an outside of the table . Bulumulla discloses the advantage of using an escape hole for leading an extra length portion of the receive coil after length adjustment to an outside of the table (Bulumulla, e.g., Fig. 3a and paragraph 32, slit 209). It 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 to modify Hardy in view of Bulumulla such that the fixing member has an escape hole for leading an extra length portion of the receive coil after length adjustment to an outside of the table. In this way, any extra/unused length portion of the receive coil can be guided outside of the examination area of the table as disclosed by Bulumulla. Regarding claim 5, Hardy in view of Bulumulla discloses wherein the receive coil is foldable (see Hardy in view of Bulumulla as applied to claim 1, it is implicit that Hardy’s flexible substrate 62 fashioned in the form of a blanket of coils 64 is capable of being folded). Regarding claim 7 Hardy in view of Bulumulla discloses a medical image diagnosis system comprising: the receive coil unit according to claim 1; and a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (see Hardy in view of Bulumulla as applied to claim 1, Hardy, e.g., Fig. 1) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 6 and 8-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hardy in view of Bulumulla, and further in view of US 2010/0156421 to Sukkau (Sukkau) . Claim 6 recites: wherein the receive coil has gradations indicating a length of the sheet, and the fixing member has an indicator indicating a gradation corresponding to the locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member among the gradations . Claim 8 recites: The medical image diagnosis system according to claim 7, wherein the receive coil has gradations indicating a length of the sheet, the fixing member has an indicator indicating a gradation corresponding to the locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member among the gradations, and the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a reading unit configured to read the gradation indicated by the indicator, and a selection unit configured to select a sub coil channel to be driven among the plurality of sub coil channels corresponding to the gradation read by the reading unit. Regarding claims 6 and 8, the examiner notes at the outset one of ordinary skill in the art would understand in the combination of Hardy in view of Bulumulla applied to claim 1 that due to the receive coil being length-adjustable to accommodate patients of different sizes, at least a portion of the plurality of sub coil channels of the receive coil may not cover the patient and therefore should not be activated. The need for such functionality is explicitly recognized by Bulumulla (Bulumulla, e.g., paragraph 52, a number of coils in the plurality of coils 204 that cover the patient 12 may vary based upon the size and geometry of the patient 12; a processing subsystem, such as, the control circuit 16, 26 may automatically determine a number of coils in the plurality of coils 204 that cover the patient 12; the coils in the plurality of coils 204 that cover the patient 12 may be activated for imaging, while the coils that do not cover the patient 12, may be deactivated). Bulumulla therefore teaches the need for determining the expanse of the reception coil, i.e., which of the plurality of sub coil channels of the receive coil cover the patient and which do not. Bulumulla utilizes a pre-scan of the plurality of coils in conjunction with a control circuit to obtain this information (Bulumulla, e.g., paragraph 52). Bulumulla therefore discloses an arrangement in which the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a selection unit configured to select a sub coil channel to be driven among the plurality of sub coil channels corresponding to the pre-scan data. Although Bulumulla’s utilizes a pre-scan of the plurality of coils to obtain sub coil patient coverage information, one of ordinary skill in the art would nonetheless understand that this information is equivalently obtainable simply by performing a visual/camera inspection of the reception coil to determine the expanse of the reception coils covering the patient. In this regard, the use of cameras/imaging devices for determining the position of a local coil arranged or to be arranged on a patient bed of a magnetic resonance device is known. For example, Sukkau discloses the use of coil marker(s) that can be detected with optical sensor devices. Sukkau discloses the marker or markers can have a coil-specific pattern and/or a coil-specific character string, for example markers in the form of specific patterns (such as bar codes) or even use of serial numbers as markers (Sukkau, e.g., paragraph 21). Sukkau discloses that the field of view of an optical sensor device may cover the entire patient bed, and measurement data of the sensor device can be relayed to a computer that determines, from the measurement data of the sensor device, coil position and orientation along the longitudinal direction of the patient bed for each local coil arranged on the patient bed (Sukkau, e.g., paragraph 63). Sukkau discloses that bed markers can also be continuously determined in terms of their position in order to be able to determine the position of the coil markers relative to the bed markers (Sukkau, e.g., paragraph 65). At least in view of (1) Bulumulla’s teaching of the need for determining the expanse of the reception coil, i.e., which of the plurality of sub coil channels of the receive coil cover the patient and which do not, in order to determine which of the plurality of coils should be activated/deactivated, (2) Sukkau’s teachings that local coil markers and bed markers can be used in conjunction with an imaging device to obtain coil position/orientation information, and (3) the well-known and conventional use of gradation markers in conjunction with an indicator (e.g., sliding measurement gauge) to perform length measurements, it 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 to modify Hardy in view of Bulumulla such that the receive coil has gradations indicating a length of the sheet, and the fixing member has an indicator indicating a gradation corresponding to the locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member among the gradations, as recited in claim 6. In this way, the expanse of the reception coil of Hardy in view of Bulumulla, i.e., which of the plurality of sub coil channels of the receive coil cover the patient and which do not, in order to determine which of the plurality of coils should be activated/deactivated, can be determined through inspection of the relative positions of coil and bed markers using an imaging device in conjunction with image processing as disclosed by Sukkau. Likewise, it 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 to modify Hardy in view of Bulumulla such that the receive coil has gradations indicating a length of the sheet, the fixing member has an indicator indicating a gradation corresponding to the locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member among the gradations, and the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a reading unit configured to read the gradation indicated by the indicator, and a selection unit configured to select a sub coil channel to be driven among the plurality of sub coil channels corresponding to the gradation read by the reading unit, as recited by claim 8. In this way, the expanse of the reception coil of Hardy in view of Bulumulla, i.e., which of the plurality of sub coil channels of the receive coil cover the patient and which do not, in order to determine which of the plurality of coils should be activated/deactivated, can be determined through inspection of the relative positions of coil and bed markers using an imaging device in conjunction with image processing as disclosed by Sukkau. Claim 9 recites: wherein the receive coil has gradations indicating a length of the sheet, the fixing member has an indicator indicating a gradation corresponding to the locking position of the member to be locked with respect to the locking member among the gradations, and the magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes an input unit configured to input the gradation indicated by the indicator, and a selection unit configured to select a sub coil channel to be driven among the plurality of sub coil channels corresponding to the gradation input by the input unit , and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Hardy in view of Bulumulla and Sukkau for reasons analogous to those discussed above in connection with claim 8, recognizing that a camera/imaging device constitutes an input unit as claimed . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2015/0087966 to Anderson et al. relates to systems, methods, and apparatuses for arranging radio frequency (RF) coils and the connection between the RF coils and the MRI data processing system. US 2015/0168511 to Jeong et al. relates to a Radio Frequency (RF) receiving coil to receive a magnetic resonance signal, and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus including the same; see, e.g., Figs. 6A-12B and accompanying disclosure. US 2020/0249291 to Otake et al. relates to a flexible RF coil; see, e.g., Fig. 1. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL R MILLER whose telephone number is (571)270-1964. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5PM EST M-F. 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. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lee Rodak, can be reached at 571-270-5628. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /DANIEL R MILLER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 2 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 3 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 4 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 6 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 7 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 8 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 9 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 10 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 11 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 12 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 13 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 14 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 15 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 16 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 17 Art Unit: 2858 Application/Control Number: 18/937,937 Page 18 Art Unit: 2858
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