Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsujita (US 2011/0319744 A1) and Sethuraman (US 2011/0021924 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Tsujita teaches an ultrasonic imaging system and a method for controlling synchronization comprising:
a light source that generates a light pulse [[abstract] laser light source];
[a member] converting the light pulse into a photoacoustic wave [[0024] light irradiated by the light irradiating section converted into acoustic signals at a converting section; [0048] generation of a trigger signal; excitation of the laser; irradiation of a pulsed laser beam onto the biological tissue; detection of acoustic signals from the biological tissue];
a probe that receives the photoacoustic wave [[0004] in photoacoustic imaging, pulsed laser beams such as laser pulses are irradiated into the living organisms. Biological tissue that absorbs the energy of the pulsed laser beams generate acoustic waves (acoustic signals) by volume expansion thereof due to heat. The acoustic waves are detected by an ultrasound probe or the like, and the detected signals are utilized to enable visualization of the living organisms based on acoustic waves];
a determiner that determines detection or non-detection of the photoacoustic wave based on first reception information generated by a reception operation of the probe [[abstract] samples acoustic signals detected by probe elements corresponding to the selected partial region, and stores the acoustic signals in an element data memory];
a calculator that calculates a synchronization deviation between a light pulse cycle in the light source and a reception cycle in the probe as an actual measurement value based on second reception information generated by the reception operation of the probe, in a case where the detection of the photoacoustic wave is determined [[0018] synchronization correction processing section, for obtaining differences among the timings at which the irradiation of light is detected by the light irradiation detecting section for each of the partial regions, and for correcting the temporal axes of the pieces of sampled data within the element data memory, based on the obtained timing differences];
a memory that stores a synchronization deviation history including a plurality of actual measurement values sequentially calculated by the calculator [[0019-0021] correct the temporal axes such that the timings at which light irradiation was detected with respect to each partial region match among; [0035] temporal axes of the data sampled from each partial region within the element data memory are corrected based on the measured differences; [0065] synchronization correction processing section 106 shifts the temporal axis of the sampled data of Region B within the element data memory 108 from the temporal axis of the sampled data of Region A for an amount corresponding to the calculated difference in light irradiation timings, and causes the signal obtaining section 107 to store the obtained sampled data];
an estimator that estimates the synchronization deviation as an estimation value based on the synchronization deviation history, in a case where the non-detection of the photoacoustic wave is determined [[0009] irradiation timings of the laser pulses will be shifted between a first irradiating operation and a second irradiating operation. That is, there is a possibility that jitters will occur in the laser pulses; [0063] the synchronization correction processing section 106 obtains the amount of time (TB) that elapses between the time that Region A was selected and the time at which light is actually irradiated onto Region B. This amount of time TB corresponds to the relationship between the sampling initiation timing for Region B and the timing at which light is actually irradiated onto Region B]; and
a controller that changes at least one cycle of the light pulse cycle or the reception cycle based on the estimation value, in a case where the non-detection of the photoacoustic wave is determined [[0064] synchronization correction processing section 106 obtains the difference between the amount of time TA obtained with respect to Region A and the amount of time TB obtained with respect to Region B as the difference in light irradiation timings between Region A and Region B … detects light irradiation at a time one sampling cycle from initiation of sampling … difference (ΔAB) in light irradiation timings between Region A and Region B is calculated as ΔAB=TB−TA=−2].
(claim 7: appears to be a method form of the system of claim 1 and is therefore rejected for similar reasons).
Tsujita does not explicitly teach and yet Sethuraman teaches an insertion member that has a light absorption element converting the light pulse into a photoacoustic wave and is inserted into a living body [[0007] intravascular photoacoustic (“IVPA”) imaging; [0081] IVUS catheter carries not only an IVUS probe but a plurality of IVPA probes that together illuminate (and penetrate) the entire wall of a segment of the vessel from inside the vessel; [0082] main components of the IVUS/IVPA imaging system include an optical excitation module needed for photoacoustic imaging, a scanning and imaging module for obtaining co-registered IVUS and IVPA images, an ultrasound signal detection probe and associated electronic components].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the photoacoustic imaging as taught by Tsujita, with the intravascular photoacoustic imaging catheter probe as taught by Sethuraman so that the blood vessel may be imaged (Sethuraman) [[0081]].
Regarding claim 2, Tsujita teaches the ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the second reception information is a reception signal sequence consisting of a plurality of reception signals output from a plurality of transducers in the probe or a pseudo-reception signal sequence corresponding to the reception signal sequence [[0006] transducer array; [fig. 3] shows multiple probe elements #131 and photodetectors #133].
Regarding claim 3, Tsujita teaches the ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 2, wherein the first reception information is reception information same as the second reception information or reception information different from the second reception information [[0032] constructing tomographic images of the subject based on the read out data].
Regarding claim 4, Tsujita teaches the ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1, wherein the controller switches a method for changing the at least one cycle, in a case where a cumulative error condition is satisfied due to continuous determination of the non-detection of the photoacoustic wave [[0035] temporal axes of the data sampled from each partial region within the element data memory are corrected based on the measured differences. By adopting this configuration, errors due to fluctuations in light irradiation timings among the partial regions can be suppressed during image construction, even if the light irradiation timings differ among the partial regions. That is, the influence of jitters can be reduced in cases that they occur, and images having high image quality can be obtained].
Regarding claim 5, Tsujita teaches the ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 4, wherein the controller changes the at least one cycle by a first method based on the synchronization deviation history until the cumulative error condition is satisfied in a case where the non-detection of the photoacoustic wave is continuously determined, and changes the at least one cycle by a second method different from the first method after the cumulative error condition is satisfied in a case where the non-detection of the photoacoustic wave is continuously determined [[0035] errors due to fluctuations in light irradiation timings among the partial regions can be suppressed during image construction; [0051] if jitters occur in the pulsed laser beam, the amount of time that elapses from selection of a partial region and actual irradiation of the pulsed laser beam will not always be the same. In such cases, the relationship between the sampling initiation timing and the light irradiation timing will become shifted among the partial regions; [0073] for this region, even in cases that jitters occur in the pulsed laser beam which is irradiated onto each partial region, the influence thereof can be reduced when imaging is performed.; [0081] correction processing section 106 determines the amount of correction to be 0 (no correction) … synchronization correction processing section 106 sets the amount of correction to be 2 when reading out data from the probe elements … synchronization correction processing section 106 sets the amount of correction to be 3 when reading out data from the probe elements corresponding to Region C].
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsujita (US 2011/0319744 A1) and Sethuraman (US 2011/0021924 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Chang (US 2014/0305218 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Tsujita does not explicitly teach and yet Chang teaches the ultrasonic imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising: an identifier that identifies a contact state of the probe based on third reception information generated by the reception operation of the probe, wherein the controller changes the at least one cycle based on the contact state of the probe [[0036] ultrasound probe can be selectively on a contact scanning state or on a non-contact scanning state, and the ultrasound probe can generate the scanned image Sg and the standard image Ig under the non-contact scanning state for better accuracy; [prior art claims 5 and 15]].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention with a reasonable expectation of success to modify the photoacoustic imaging as taught by Tsujita, with contact and non-contact imaging as taught by Chang so that an image generated under the non-contact scanning state is made with better accuracy (Chang) [[0036]].
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN D ARMSTRONG/ Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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