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 .
Status of Application
This action is in reply to the reply received March 27, 2026 (hereinafter “Reply”).
Claims 1, 5, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 19 are amended.
Claims 8 and 16 are cancelled.
Claims 1-7, 9-15, and 17-19 are pending.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claims 13-15 and 19: This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: processing unit in claim 13 (and in claims 14, 15, and 19 by virtue of their dependency from claim 13).
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-5, 7, 9-15, and 17-19 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0035501 A1) in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0192984 A1) (hereinafter “Lee”).
Claims 1 and 13: Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
A computer-implemented method for providing a control signal via a medical scanner out of a fleet of medical scanners (see at least ¶ [0042]: FIGS. 1-A and 1-B are schematic diagrams illustrating exemplary medical resources allocation system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The medical resources allocation system may include at least one medical resources provider (e.g., the medical resources providers 110 illustrated in FIG. 1-A, and/or 111, 112, and 113 illustrated in FIG. 1-B), a network 120, one or more terminal devices 130, a medical resources allocation device 140, and storage 150; see also at least ¶ [0043]: the medical resources allocation system may be configured to allocate medical resources for a medical process of a user 135; see also at least ¶ [0062]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may be implemented on a computer, a user console, a single server, or a server group, etc; see also at least ¶¶ [0066]-[0072]), the method comprising:
receiving first input data in relation to a request for medical imaging of a patient (see at least ¶ [0056]: the information may include, e.g., information related to medical resources or information related to a medical process of a patient. The information may be inputted by, e.g., the user 135 through the terminal device 130. Alternatively or additionally, the information may be obtained from the storage 150, the medical resources allocation device 140, or the medical resources provider 110 through, e.g., the network 120. The information may be transmitted to the medical resources allocation device 140 for processing, be stored in the storage 150, or be presented to the user 135 through the terminal device 130; see also at least ¶ [0058]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may acquire information on the medical process corresponding to the user 135, and allocate medical resources for the medical process; see also at least ¶ [0043]: the medical process used herein may include a diagnostic process, a therapeutic process, an examination process, a registration or check-in process, or the like, or a combination thereof. The medical process may include a plurality of sub-processes (e.g., creating the medical records or the user profile, first visit, examination (e.g., CT examination, blood test), second visit, treatment, follow-up examination, post treatment monitoring, or the like). Each of the plurality of sub-process may relate to one or more medical services or medical resources provided by one or more medical resources providers. By allocating medical resources for the medical process, each of the plurality of sub-process may be assigned with one or more corresponding medical resources; see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0057], [0060], [0075], [0082]-[0083], [0101], and [0151]);
receiving second input data indicative of an availability of at least one medical scanner within a fleet of medical scanners (see at least ¶ [0050]: the medical resources provided by the medical resources provider 110 may refer to any human resources and/or equipment resources that may be used to provide one or more medical services to a patient. The medical resources may relate to, for example, information and/or availability of a medical device (e.g., type, utility status (e.g., idle, busy, reserved for a specific time slot, shutdown, disabled), location), a clinic (e.g., type(s) of medical services provided, available medical devices, business hours, location), a doctor or a technician (e.g., specialty, availability (office hours, available time slots (or idle time slots), etc.), office location(s)), one or more medicines (e.g., type, stock, location), hospital beds (e.g., availability, location) and surgical rooms (e.g., type, available devices, location, utilization status (busy, standby, ready for use, reserved for a specific time slot, idle, in maintenance)), or the like, or a combination thereof. During a medical process, one or more medical service may be involved. Each involved medical service may relate to a plurality of medical resources. Taking the medical imaging service 165 for example, the related medical resource may include the availability of an imaging room, an imaging device (e.g., CT), an imaging technician, or the like, or a combination thereof. A time slot in the present disclosure may include a start time point and at least one of an ending time or a time duration; see also at least ¶ [0051]: information on the medical resources (or referred to as medical resource information) may be collected and updated in the medical resources allocation device 140 (e.g., through the network 120) according to information provided by the staff of the medical resources provider 110 (e.g., doctors, nurses, specialists). Alternatively or additionally, the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device); see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0052]-[0053], [0088], and [0109]);
processing the received first input data and the received second input data, the processing including selecting an available medical scanner out of the fleet (see at least ¶ [0058]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may allocate medical resources based on information obtained from the medical resources provider 110 (as well as the medical resources providers 111, 112, and/or 113), from a user 135 via the terminal device 130, from the storage 150, or the like, or a combination thereof. For example, the medical resources allocation device 140 may acquire information on the medical process corresponding to the user 135, and allocate medical resources for the medical process; see also at least ¶ [0087]: the allocation module 320 may allocate medical resources based on the first information and information on available medical resources (second information)), and the processing including using a generative artificial intelligence for creating a workflow for performing the medical imaging according to the request (see at least ¶ [0102]: the medical resource allocation system 100A or 100B may include an intelligent device (or module) for automatically determining the medical process for the user 135 and input the related information into the medical resources allocation device 110. The intelligent device may determine the medical process based on one or more standard templates. Alternatively or additionally, the intelligent device may determine the medical process based on identity information of the user 135, biological information (e.g., finger prints, facial features) of the user 135, medical records (e.g., including one or more previous examination results) of the user 135, symptom description (e.g., in the form of voice, image, text) of the user 135, or the like, or a combination thereof; see also at least ¶ [0090]: to allocate the medical resources for the medical process, for each sub-process of the medical process, the allocation module 320 may determine, based at least on the first information, a schedule time slot of the sub-process. The allocation module 320 may then determine, from the medical resources, based on the first information and second information, one or more candidate medical resources that satisfy a criterion of being available during the schedule time slot of the sub-process. The allocation module 320 may select a target medical resource from the one or more candidate medical resources, and assign the target medical resource to the sub-process as the allocated medical resource of the sub-process; see also at least ¶ [0105]: a user 135 (e.g., a doctor, a nurse, an assistant) or the intelligent device may assign a priority factor to a medical process or a portion thereof (e.g., a sub-process of the medical process) such that the timing of the medical process or a portion thereof may be arranged accordingly, and the time information may be determined accordingly; see also at least ¶¶ [0097], [0103]-[0104], [0106], [0108], [0110]-[0120], [0124], and [0169]); and
providing the control signal […], the control signal indicative of the workflow for performing the medical imaging via the available medical scanner (see at least ¶ [0059]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may detect a medical plan arrangement application executing on the terminal device 130 of the user 135. Via the medical plan arrangement application, the user 135 may manage a medical process, such as initiating the medical resources allocation process. The notification of the medical process and allocated medical resources may also be performed via the medical plan arrangement application; see also at least ¶ [0138]: the first notification module 330 may notify a user 135 with the appointment information of some of or all of the sub-processes of the medical process. The first presentation may include an overview (or a list) of the sub-processes to be notified and a corresponding allocated medical resource (or a set of allocated medical resources) displayed besides each corresponding sub-process of the sub-processes to be notified).
Zhang does not explicitly disclose, but Lee, as shown, teaches the following limitations:
providing the control signal to the available medical scanner, the control signal indicative of the workflow for performing the medical imaging via the available medical scanner (see at least ¶ [0120]: A control command signal corresponding to the input command is transferred to the mobile display device 141 and transmitted to the scan controller 121 through the second interface 141 e. The scan controller 121 may start or stop the scan operation in response to the control command signal; see also at least ¶¶ [0121]-[0122]);
acquiring, by performing a scan with the available medical scanner, medical imaging data based on the control signal (see at least ¶ [0121]: The scanner 110 is configured to scan the object. In the case where an image generated by the medical imaging apparatus 100 is a CT image, the scanner 110 includes an X-ray source to generate X-rays and emit the generated X-rays to the object, and an X-ray detector to detect X-rays transmitted through the object; see also at least ¶ [0122]: when the control command signal corresponding to the start of the scan operation is transmitted from the mobile display device 141, the scan controller 121 supplies power to the scanner 110 such that the scanner 110 generates and detects X-rays or forms a magnetic field within a bore 103; see also at least ¶ [0120]).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the techniques for controlling imaging devices taught by Lee with the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang, because Lee teaches at ¶¶ [0003]-[0005] that its techniques for remote device control overcome difficulties relating to monitoring patients in different locations. See M.P.E.P. § 2143(I)(G).
Moreover, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the techniques for controlling imaging devices taught by Lee with the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang, because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements (the techniques for controlling imaging devices taught by Lee and the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang), in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. See M.P.E.P. § 2143(I)(A).
Claims 2 and 14: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
at least one of:
receiving a technical specification of the medical scanner; or receiving generally applicable instructions in relation to medical imaging by the fleet of medical scanners (see at least ¶ [0050]: the medical resources provided by the medical resources provider 110 may refer to any human resources and/or equipment resources that may be used to provide one or more medical services to a patient. The medical resources may relate to, for example, information and/or availability of a medical device (e.g., type, utility status (e.g., idle, busy, reserved for a specific time slot, shutdown, disabled), location), a clinic (e.g., type(s) of medical services provided, available medical devices, business hours, location), a doctor or a technician (e.g., specialty, availability (office hours, available time slots (or idle time slots), etc.), office location(s)), one or more medicines (e.g., type, stock, location), hospital beds (e.g., availability, location) and surgical rooms (e.g., type, available devices, location, utilization status (busy, standby, ready for use, reserved for a specific time slot, idle, in maintenance)), or the like, or a combination thereof. During a medical process, one or more medical service may be involved. Each involved medical service may relate to a plurality of medical resources. Taking the medical imaging service 165 for example, the related medical resource may include the availability of an imaging room, an imaging device (e.g., CT), an imaging technician, or the like, or a combination thereof. A time slot in the present disclosure may include a start time point and at least one of an ending time or a time duration; see also at least ¶ [0051]: information on the medical resources (or referred to as medical resource information) may be collected and updated in the medical resources allocation device 140 (e.g., through the network 120) according to information provided by the staff of the medical resources provider 110 (e.g., doctors, nurses, specialists). Alternatively or additionally, the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device); see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0052]-[0053], [0088], and [0109]).
Claim 3: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein the received first input data in relation to the request for medical imaging of the patient comprises at least one of:
a reason for requesting the medical imaging; at least one of one or more anatomical structures or one or more organs, to be captured by the medical imaging; information on a general health state of the patient; and existing or prior medical images of the patient (see at least ¶ [0082]: The first information may be determined based on, for example, a designated doctor or therapist for the user 135, the preference of the user 135, information related to one or more medical resources providers (e.g., a list), or the like, or a combination thereof. The medical process may be determined as a whole (e.g., for a routine health examination), determined sub-process by sub-process (e.g., for diagnosing and/or treating a disease), determined in a batch of sub-processes (e.g., for a treatment plan including a series of sub-processes), etc. In some embodiments, a sub-process or a batch of sub-processes may be determined based on the result(s) of one or more previous sub-processes; see also at least ¶¶ [0083] and [0102]).
Claim 4: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein at least a part of the first input data in relation to the request for medical imaging of the patient is received via a user interface (see at least ¶ [0056]: the information may include, e.g., information related to medical resources or information related to a medical process of a patient. The information may be inputted by, e.g., the user 135 through the terminal device 130. Alternatively or additionally, the information may be obtained from the storage 150, the medical resources allocation device 140, or the medical resources provider 110 through, e.g., the network 120. The information may be transmitted to the medical resources allocation device 140 for processing, be stored in the storage 150, or be presented to the user 135 through the terminal device 130; see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0052]-[0053], [0088], and [0109]).
Claim 5: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein at least one of (i) the selecting the available medical scanner out of the fleet is based on the technical specification of the medical scanner or (ii) the processing comprises determining a set of scan parameters for the workflow (see at least ¶ [0090]: to allocate the medical resources for the medical process, for each sub-process of the medical process, the allocation module 320 may determine, based at least on the first information, a schedule time slot of the sub-process. The allocation module 320 may then determine, from the medical resources, based on the first information and second information, one or more candidate medical resources that satisfy a criterion of being available during the schedule time slot of the sub-process. The allocation module 320 may select a target medical resource from the one or more candidate medical resources, and assign the target medical resource to the sub-process as the allocated medical resource of the sub-process; see also at least ¶ [0105]: a user 135 (e.g., a doctor, a nurse, an assistant) or the intelligent device may assign a priority factor to a medical process or a portion thereof (e.g., a sub-process of the medical process) such that the timing of the medical process or a portion thereof may be arranged accordingly, and the time information may be determined accordingly; see also at least ¶¶ [0097], [0102]-[0104], [0106], [0108], [0110]-[0120], [0124], and [0169]).
Claim 7: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
pre-processing at least one of: the received first input data in relation to the request for medical imaging of the patient; the received second input data indicative of the availability of at least one medical scanner within the fleet; received technical specification of the medical scanner; or received generally applicable instructions (see also at least ¶ [0051]: information on the medical resources (or referred to as medical resource information) may be collected and updated in the medical resources allocation device 140 (e.g., through the network 120) according to information provided by the staff of the medical resources provider 110 (e.g., doctors, nurses, specialists). Alternatively or additionally, the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device)).
Claim 9: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
post-processing the acquired medical imaging data (see at least ¶ [0070]: the storage 220 may store data/information obtained from the scanner 110, the terminal device 130, the storage 150, and/or any other component of the imaging system; see also at least ¶ [0051]: the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device); see also at least ¶ [0088]: the second information may be updated periodically or in real-time by the one or more medical resources providers).
Claim 10: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
at least one of: displaying the created workflow using a user interface; or displaying at least one of the acquired or post-processed medical image data using the user interface (see at least ¶ [0075]: the application 282 may generate a presentation (e.g., in the form of a user interface or an element or feature of a user interface), and display information included in the received data; see also at least ¶ [0135]: to notify the user 135, the first notification module 330 may provide first data corresponding to the appointment information of the at least one sub-process to be sent to the terminal device 130 of the user to generate a first presentation on the display of the terminal device 130; see also at least ¶ [0117]: the allocation module 320 may also display information on the plurality of medical resource providers or the plurality of medical resources through the terminal device 130 for the user 135 to choose from).
Claim 11: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein the fleet of medical scanners comprises at least two medical scanners associated with different medical imaging modalities (see at least ¶ [0049]: medical services provided by the medical resources provider 110 may include, for example, outpatient services 161 (e.g., clinic), inpatient services 162 (e.g., intense care unit (ICU) medical services, surgical services, emergency treatments), pharmacy and injection services 163, testing 164 (e.g., blood tests, urine tests), medical imaging services 165 (e.g., computed tomography (CT), medical resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), digital radiography (DR)), or the like, or a combination thereof. The medical resources provider 110 (as well as the medical resources providers 111, 112, and/or 113) may be a hospital, a medical center, a clinic, a center for disease control, etc.).
Claim 12: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
scheduling a plurality of patients across the fleet of medical scanners (see at least ¶ [0044]: a doctor may view and/or provide information (e.g., provide initial information and/or revise pre-existing information) regarding his own patients and their medical processes with the medical resources provider 110, medical resources needed or assigned to those patients or their medical processes; an assistant may view and/or provide information (e.g., provide initial information and/or revise pre-existing information) that is needed for making an appointment or attending to a patient in a medical process, e.g., information regarding multiple patients and their medical processes with the medical resources provider 110, medical resources needed or assigned to those patients or their medical processes. Different access privileges of different users 135 may be controlled or identified based on access credentials or login information).
Claim 15: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
the computing device of claim 13 (see the rejection of claim 13 above); and a
a fleet of medical scanners (see at least ¶ [0056]: the information may include, e.g., information related to medical resources or information related to a medical process of a patient. The information may be inputted by, e.g., the user 135 through the terminal device 130. Alternatively or additionally, the information may be obtained from the storage 150, the medical resources allocation device 140, or the medical resources provider 110 through, e.g., the network 120. The information may be transmitted to the medical resources allocation device 140 for processing, be stored in the storage 150, or be presented to the user 135 through the terminal device 130; see also at least ¶ [0058]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may acquire information on the medical process corresponding to the user 135, and allocate medical resources for the medical process; see also at least ¶ [0043]: the medical process used herein may include a diagnostic process, a therapeutic process, an examination process, a registration or check-in process, or the like, or a combination thereof. The medical process may include a plurality of sub-processes (e.g., creating the medical records or the user profile, first visit, examination (e.g., CT examination, blood test), second visit, treatment, follow-up examination, post treatment monitoring, or the like). Each of the plurality of sub-process may relate to one or more medical services or medical resources provided by one or more medical resources providers. By allocating medical resources for the medical process, each of the plurality of sub-process may be assigned with one or more corresponding medical resources; see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0057], [0060], [0075], [0082]-[0083], [0101], [0148], and [0151]), wherein each medical scanner within the fleet comprises a control signal receiving interface configured to receive a control signal from the control signal providing interface of the computing device (see at least ¶ [0051]: the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device); see also at least ¶ [0148]: the medical plan arrangement application may generate a signal to notify another user 135 (e.g., the doctor or the technician) that the user 135 is expected to reach the next sub-process on time or not, and/or if the user 135 needs assistance to reach the sub-process on time; see also at least ¶ [0152]: when communicating with the medical plan arrangement application, the medical resources allocation device 140 may provide second data regarding the medical process related to the user 135 to be sent to the medical plan arrangement application. The second data may cause the medical plan arrangement application executing on the terminal device 130 to generate a third presentation (e.g., an interface, a webpage, an SMS message, an E-mail) on the display of the mobile computing device, wherein the third presentation depicts the medical process related to the patient and provides a second user interface feature (e.g., a dialog box, one or more buttons or icons) from which the user can trigger transmission of the medical plan arrangement request (encrypted or not encrypted) to the medical resources allocation device 140).
Claim 17: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program elements, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform the method of claim 1 (see at least ¶ [0039]: software modules/units/blocks configured for execution on computing devices (e.g., processor 210 as illustrated in FIG. 2-A) may be provided on a computer-readable medium, such as a compact disc, a digital video disc, a flash drive, a magnetic disc, or any other tangible medium, or as a digital download (and can be originally stored in a compressed or installable format that needs installation, decompression, or decryption prior to execution). Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a storage device of the executing computing device, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that hardware modules/units/blocks may be included in connected logic components, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or can be included of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules/units/blocks or computing device functionality described herein may be implemented as software modules/units/blocks, but may be represented in hardware or firmware. In general, the modules/units/blocks described herein refer to logical modules/units/blocks that may be combined with other modules/units/blocks or divided into sub-modules/sub-units/sub-blocks despite their physical organization or storage. The description may be applicable to a system, an engine, or a portion thereof; see also at least ¶¶ [0042] and [0066]-[0072]).
Claim 18: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein the technical specification comprises at least one of an existence of or specification of detachable equipment (see at least ¶ [0062]: the medical resources allocation device 140 may be local or remote with respect to the medical resources provider 110 that the medical resources allocation device 140 manages; see at least ¶ [0050]: the medical resources provided by the medical resources provider 110 may refer to any human resources and/or equipment resources that may be used to provide one or more medical services to a patient. The medical resources may relate to, for example, information and/or availability of a medical device (e.g., type, utility status (e.g., idle, busy, reserved for a specific time slot, shutdown, disabled), location), a clinic (e.g., type(s) of medical services provided, available medical devices, business hours, location), a doctor or a technician (e.g., specialty, availability (office hours, available time slots (or idle time slots), etc.), office location(s)), one or more medicines (e.g., type, stock, location), hospital beds (e.g., availability, location) and surgical rooms (e.g., type, available devices, location, utilization status (busy, standby, ready for use, reserved for a specific time slot, idle, in maintenance)), or the like, or a combination thereof. During a medical process, one or more medical service may be involved. Each involved medical service may relate to a plurality of medical resources. Taking the medical imaging service 165 for example, the related medical resource may include the availability of an imaging room, an imaging device (e.g., CT), an imaging technician, or the like, or a combination thereof. A time slot in the present disclosure may include a start time point and at least one of an ending time or a time duration; see also at least ¶ [0051]: information on the medical resources (or referred to as medical resource information) may be collected and updated in the medical resources allocation device 140 (e.g., through the network 120) according to information provided by the staff of the medical resources provider 110 (e.g., doctors, nurses, specialists). Alternatively or additionally, the devices providing specific medical services may collect and feed the information on the medical resources to the medical resources allocation device 140 automatically. The information updating may be performed by one or more specialized information acquisition devices (e.g., one or more terminal devices 130), and/or by the devices providing specific medical services (e.g., CT device, MRI device); see also at least ¶¶ [0049], [0052]-[0053], [0088], and [0109]; see also at least ¶ [0047], and FIGS. 1A-1B).
Claim 19: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above. Further, Zhang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein the generally applicable instructions comprise at least one of one or more medical guidelines or one or more standard operation procedures (see at least ¶ [0102]: the medical resource allocation system 100A or 100B may include an intelligent device (or module) for automatically determining the medical process for the user 135 and input the related information into the medical resources allocation device 110. The intelligent device may determine the medical process based on one or more standard templates; see also at least ¶ [0125]: the rulebook may include one or more rules for determining available time slots of the medical resources based on the second information regarding the medical resources such as needed warm-up time of a medical device (e.g., an imaging machine, a treatment apparatus), needed cool-down time of a medical device between consecutive uses or before shut-down, a maximum operation time of a medical device within a period of time (e.g., a day, a week), needed calibration time or maintenance time of a medical device, scheduled calibration or maintenance to be performed on a medical device, a maximum period of time a same operator can continuously work on a medical device without taking a break, one or more conditions to be checked before a patient can be operated on a medical device or a medical procedure, or the like, or a combination thereof).
Claim 6 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (U.S. Pub. No. 2019/0035501 A1) in view of Lee et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2018/0192984 A1) (hereinafter “Lee”) and further in view of Huang et al. (CN116580801A) (hereinafter “Huang”).
Claim 6: The combination of Zhang and Lee teaches the limitations as shown in the rejections above.
Zhang does not explicitly disclose, but Huang, as shown, discloses the following limitations:
wherein the generative artificial intelligence comprises at least one of: a neural network comprising an attention mechanism; a neural network comprising a transformer architecture; a generative adversarial network; a retentive network; and a large language model (see at least p. 20: the large language model mainly refers to the artificial intelligent model which is pre-trained by the corresponding training set and can understand the text information in the medical field and generate the feedback information, such as the scanning suggestion. The large language model can be configured as the existing model based on the public cloud, such as the GPT series model provided by OpenAI, or the large language model locally deployed and constructed by the special medical data set. The scanning suggestion refers to the text information output by the large language model. In one embodiment, the scanning recommendations include: The purpose of the inspection: The purpose of the patient's diagnosis is known, for example, whether the patient is for the purpose of detecting tumor, cyst and other diseases; Sweeping Range: determining the range to be scanned, including the organ and part to be inspected; scanning method: determining the adopted scanning method according to the scanning purpose and scanning range, such as normal ultrasound, colour Doppler ultrasound and so on; scanning parameter: setting proper scanning parameters such as frequency, gain and depth according to the scanning method and specific condition; scanning order: determining the sequence of scanning according to the scanning range and the scanning purpose, ensuring comprehensive and systematic scanning; scanning assessment: evaluating, analyzing and judging the scanning result, and providing corresponding diagnosis suggestion and treatment solution. Said content can request the feedback corresponding content to the large language model by adding corresponding prompt word).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the techniques for augmenting medical scanning workflows with large language models taught by Huang with the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang (as modified by Lee), because Huang teaches at page 19 that its approach is useful “as to realize the better quality control of the scanning process.” See M.P.E.P. § 2143(I)(G).
Moreover, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the techniques for augmenting medical scanning workflows with large language models taught by Huang with the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang (as modified by Lee), because the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements (the techniques for augmenting medical scanning workflows with large language models taught by Huang, the techniques for controlling imaging devices taught by Lee, and the systems for providing medical services disclosed by Zhang), in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable. See M.P.E.P. § 2143(I)(A).
Response to Arguments
The arguments in the Reply have been fully considered. The amendments obviate the rejections under § 101. The arguments regarding the rejections under §§ 102 and 103 are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. The following references have been cited to further show the state of the art with respect to medical workflow management.
Sanjay-Gopal et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2007/0049815 A1) (remote access to CT scans to improve workflow and patient throughput);
Moskowitz et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2020/0281670 A1) (autonomous robot surgery):
Backhaus et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2013/0066646 A1) (enhanced multiple resource planning and forecasting);
Napora et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2009/0132586 A1) (medical workflow management);
Balignasay et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0188503 A1) (multi-modality case explorer system);
Bastide et al. (U.S. Pub. No. 2021/0217511 A1) (adaptive scheduling for healthcare resources); and
Thirunavukarasu et al. (“Democratizing artificial intelligence imaging analysis with automated machine learning: tutorial.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 25 (Oct. 12, 2023): e49949).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher Tokarczyk, whose telephone number is 571-272-9594. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday between 6:00 AM and 4:00 PM Eastern.
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/CHRISTOPHER B TOKARCZYK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3687
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