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 .
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/18/2026 has been entered.
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.
Claim(s) 1-12, 14, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Powell et al. (2023/0015060) in view of Navacchia et al. (2026/0083509).
With respect to claim 1, Powell et al. teach of a computer-assisted surgical system that is configured to be affixed by a plurality screws in a vertebra of a patient (0050, 0054, 0055] comprising an instrument 301 such as a drill, screw driver for cutting bone [0055] and a navigation array 111 attached to the instrument 101 or 301 for cutting bone [0038, fig. 1]. Powell et al. teach of a tracking system or trackers 113 to detect and track elements of the navigation array or the tracking processing device 107 to determine the position of the markers 111 [0038]. Powell et al. teach of a display 104 and a controller 106 having a processor 102 (fig. 1, 0030) configured to receive an image of the bone receiving the implant (fig. 3, 0054, 0058, 0090, 0092, 0093), receiving instrument positional data from the tracking system to determine trajectory of the instrument [0054, fig. 3], generate on the display a representation of a distal end of the instrument 301 overlaid on the image [fig. 3, 0054]. Powell et al. further teach of generating on the display a representation of a scale or ruler 444 having a same trajectory as the instrument 301, at least a portion of the representation of the ruler 444 extending aps the representation of the distal end of the instrument with the representation of the ruler being overlaid over the image (fig. 4A, 0054-0057), wherein the scale includes graduations (as shown in fig. 4A) related to a length of the screw along the scale trajectory [0058, 0060] and wherein an initial graduation of the scale may be independent of the position of the distal end of the instrument 301 [0061, fig. 4B] or where the instrument moves relative to the ruler 444 which can remain stationary and therefore the initial graduation of the scale is independent of the position of the tip of the instrument. Powell et al. additionally teach of updating the representation as the instrument moves [0048, 0051].
Powell et al. do not explicitly teach of the use of peripheral screws. In a related field of endeavor Navacchia et al. teach of a modeling system for pre-operative planning that includes a display with screws positions on the bone sections and by rotating the view and the screws in 2D cross-sections of the model, the use is able to more accurately select bone regions and screw lengths to achieve screw positions [0146, 0149] where the screw type may be peripheral screws [0153]. It would have therefore been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching by Navacchia et al. to modify Powell et al. to more accurately select bone regions and screw lengths to achieve desired screw positions to achieve a bi-cortical screw fixation [Navacchia, 0146].
With respect to claim 2, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the image being a 2D slice 338 of a 3D volume 336 [0052-0054].
With respect to claims 3 and 4, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller 106 being configured to receive information on the position of the bone for receiving the implant [0051] based on the position and orientation of the marker 334 and information about the implant [0038, 0057, 0058, 0068, 0071] or user control of the instrument 301 in the physical scene 308 corresponding to identified points in the 3D image data 336 such as pre-planned screw entry points on the patient’s vertebra [0050, 0077].
With respect to claim 5, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to view different orientations, points of the view allowing the user to digitally rotate, zoom, crop, or enhance their view to facilitate surgical workflow [0047] and therefore under broadest reasonable interpretation, Powell et al. teach of the user being able to control the display to zoom, rotate on the implant once the screws are in place.
With respect to claims 6-9, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to determine a derived plane of the implant based on theoretical points or entry points [0050, 0056-0059], generate the representation of the scale using the derived plane as the initial graduation of the scale or where the ruler 444 is initiated [0070], where the graduation of the scale represent unit of distance [0056] and scale may represent predetermined screw sizes [0058, 0068].
With respect to claim 10, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to generate representation such that if the distal end of the instrument is moved along the scale, the same image is used or displaying a projected trajectory 1080 and also generating changes to the representations if the trajectory of the instrument is changed or if the instrument moves at a different angle or not the projected trajectory or change of angle such that the breach indicator 1052 is positioned on a father wall of the 3D image data and the display can change color, intensity, size to indicate to the user that the trajectory has changed [0080].
With respect to claim 11, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to generate on the display a representation of the implant overlaid or superimposed over the 3D image data (0054, 0093, fig. 14a-c).
With respect to claim 12, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to suggest the length of the implant [0068, 0089, 0093] or the indicators providing information on the width or different screws to visualize the size of the screw or implant [0058].
With respect to claim 14, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to use the position information of the implant to determine a derived plane of the implant and use the derived plane as the initial graduation of the scale or the initiation point of the ruler [0070] where the slicing plane can remain aligned with point on the surface of the 3D image data corresponding to the position of the tip of the instrument where the ruler is initiated and therefore the plane can remain fixed in position relative to the entry point of the instrument [0070].
With respect to claim 20, Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. teach of the controller being configured to display the ruler 444 as free to move in space where the user can select/initialize the position of the ruler 444 relative to the image data 336 at an initialization point [0056, 0059] and then the controller is further configured to display the initial graduation of the scale as locked in position while allowing the representation of the scale to pivot or oriented digitally as needed by the user [0047, 0061, 0062].
Claim(s) 13 and 15-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Powell et al. in view of Navacchia et al. and further in view of Nicolet et al. (2022/0039738). Powell et al. do not teach of determining the torque of the instrument and associating the torque with the bone type. In a similar field of endeavor Nicolet et al. teach of a method and tool for measuring osseous quality where the controller is configured to determine a torque of the tool or instrument [0045, 0060, 0104], and associate the determined toque with a type of bone [fig. 3A/3B, 0107]. Nicolet et al. teach of the controller being configured to determine a position of the bone type and use the position of the association bone type as the initial graduation of the scale [fig. 2a, 2b] where the artificial bone 1 and bone 4 have osseous quality and cortical thickness of 6mm (position of the start of the plateau), whereas bone 4 has thickness of 1 mm (start of the plateaus and the total length of the thread tap uses makes it possible to determine the osseous quality of the trabecular region [0058-0063]. Nicolet et al. therefore teach of using the position of the associated bone type such as (bone 1 or bone 2 and the corresponding positions (as shown in figure 3a/3b) )as the initial graduation of the scale. Nicolet et al. teach of the controller being configured to determine a current of tool [0039, 0045] and associate the torque with the type of bone [0019, 0020, 0060, 0094]. Nicolet et al. teach of the optical screw thread or the appropriate peripheral screw thread to be based on the bone type or tool position [0075, 0076]. It would have therefore been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use the teaching by Nicolet et al. to modify Powell et al. to provide quantitative measurements of bone types to ensure more precise and optimal conditions for implant surgery [Nicolet, 0011, 0013] and minimize unintended bone lesions from incorrect drilling [0076].
Conclusion
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BR
/BAISAKHI ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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