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 .
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.
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:
In claim 1 and 13: a signal acquiring section that acquires a reflection signal …; a signal converting section that converts the reflection signal …; a frequency selection section that selects a frequency …; and a measuring section that identifies biological conditions …;
In claim 2: … measuring section generates a phase signal…and identifies the biological conditions …;
In claim 3: … measuring section identifies a time interval between peaks …;
In claim 4: …measuring section converts … identifies, as respiratory frequency …and identifies, as a heartbeat frequency …;
In claim 5: … measuring section identifies a heart rate … and identifies a respiratory rate …;
In claim 7: … measuring section corrects the phase signal …;
In claims 8 -10: … frequency selection section selects a frequency …;
In claim 10: … signal acquisition section acquires a plurality of reflection signals …;
(see [0042] CPU 15 functions as the signal acquiring section 153, the signal converting section 154, the frequency selection section 155, and the measuring section 156 by executing programs stored in the storage section 14 as corresponding structure and Figs. 10-11)
In claim 11: … storage section that stores a …and the measuring section identifies the biological conditions …;
(see [0044] storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or RAM (Random Access Memory)
In claim 13: … an external apparatus that can communicate with the biological measurement apparatus - (see [0118] - an external server 3 for the structure).
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 described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
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 USC § 102
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 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 –
(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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Applicant cited Sun et al., “Remote Measurement of Human Vital Signs Based on Joint-Range Adaptive EEMD” April 2020 (“Sun”).
Regarding claims 1 and 12, Sun discloses a biological condition measurement apparatus and associated method (page 68514 [Abstract], page 68515 - Fig. 1 “FMCW radar” and page 68520 - Fig. 7 “The proposed processing flow for remote measurement of human vital signs using FMCW radar”) comprising:
a signal acquiring section that acquires a reflection signal generated by reflection, on a measurement subject (page 68515 - Fig. 1 ”Rx”), of a chirp signal in a frequency band equal to or higher than a millimeter wave band, transmitted at each predetermined frame time (page 68515 left column under subheading II. “…ramp generator periodically outputs a chirp signal …” and right column paragraph following equation (1) “Tr stands for the duration of a single chirp”, time for a chirp is predetermined and defines a frame time, and page 68521 right column under subheading IV. “… a76 HGz~81 Ghz … mm-wave sensor (IWR1642) is utilized as the radar”, examiner notes that a signal acquiring section equivalent thereof is an inherent feature of the FMCW radar of Figure 1 and 7);
a signal converting section that converts the reflection signal into a complex signal in a frequency domain for each frame time (page 68515 - Fig. 1 “Signal processing” comprise a signal converting section that runs the adaptive ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) algorithm discussed in section III B, specifically page 68517, left column, second paragraph - “… EEMD uses Gaussian white noise to populate the whole time-frequency space…” thus generating a complete signal in frequency domain as depicted in Fig. 4 in page 68518, examiner notes that a signal converting section equivalent thereof is an inherent feature of the FMCW radar of Figure 1 and 7);
a frequency selection section that selects a frequency corresponding to a frequency component with relatively high intensity from among a plurality of frequency components included in the complex signal (page 68517, left column, fourth paragraph - “However, through CEEMDAN, the IMF4 signal is well separated, and the frequency corresponding to its prominent peak is very close to the ground truth of the heartbeat frequency” i.e. prominent peak that represents highest frequency is selected, see from last paragraph in page 68517 “computation flow of the proposed method” reads on a frequency selection section, examiner notes that a frequency selection section equivalent thereof is an inherent feature of the FMCW radar of Figure 1 and 7); and
a measuring section that identifies biological conditions of the measurement subject on the basis of changes in a phase of the frequency component corresponding to the frequency selected by the frequency selection section over a frequency fixing period which is longer than the frame time (paragraph bridging page 68515-68516 “… Tc (Tc ≥Tr) …” and page 68515 left column in II A, second paragraph, Tc corresponds to a sampling length, hence a frequency fixing period and is longer than frame time Tr, which stands for a duration of a single chirp, examiner notes that a measuring section equivalent thereof is an inherent feature of the FMCW radar of Figure 1 and 7).
Regarding claim 2, Sun discloses the method of claim 1 wherein the measuring section generates a phase signal by arranging phases of the frequency component in time series over the frequency fixing period (see e.g., Figure 4, 9 and/or 10 in (a)), and identifies the biological conditions on the basis of a frequency component included in a cycle range or a frequency range corresponding to the biological conditions in the phase signal (see text associated with Fig. 4, 9 and/or 10, IMF6 and IMF4 are identified as the closest respiration and heartbeat components).
Regarding claim 3, Sun discloses the method of claim 2 wherein the measuring section identifies a time interval between peaks in the phase signal as a cycle of the biological conditions when the time interval falls within a range assumed as the cycle of the biological condition to be identified (see e.g. page 68520 right column, last paragraph regarding periodic changes of phase signals that include a time interval between peaks as illustrated in Fig. 6, which correspond mainly to respiration signals, with submerged heartbeat signals as it includes signals with ).
Regarding claim 4, Sun discloses the method of claim 2 wherein the measuring section converts the phase signal into a frequency-domain signal, identifies, as respiratory frequency, a frequency of a frequency component with a first intensity or higher among a plurality of frequency components included in a respiratory frequency band, and identifies, as a heartbeat frequency, a frequency of a frequency component with a second intensity or higher among a plurality of frequency components included in a heartbeat frequency band (see page 68517 left column, third paragraph e.g., Fig. 3 and associated text “The frequencies of respiration and heartbeat are set as fr = 0.26 Hz and fh = 1.265 Hz respectively”).
Regarding claims 6-7, see section III proposed method regarding time series and phase signal and Figs. 6-13 regarding measurements of respiratory rate or heart rate
Regarding claims 8 and 9, see e.g., Fig. 3 and associated text “The frequencies of respiration and heartbeat are set as fr = 0.26 Hz and fh = 1.265 Hz respectively… The IMF4 and IMF3 are identified as the closest respiration and heartbeat components, respectively., a frequency is selected that correspond with a relatively high intensity or highest intensity corresponding to respiration or heartbeat, see also paragraph bridging left and right column in page 68517 the process identifies the IMFs corresponding to respiration and heartbeat and these IMFs correspond to either the a frequency component with high intensity or highest intensity).
Regarding claim 10 and 11, see paragraph bridging page 68515 to 68516, “The output spectrum has peaks corresponding to the subjects at different distances. So it is called the range FFT. Each range FFT bin represents a particular distance with an associated phase … Therefore, the information on physiological vibration can be obtained by extracting the phase from the range FFT bin corresponding to the subject”, i.e., a range FFT e.g., depicted in Fig. 6 with range bins from index 33-41 represent subjects at different distances, examiner notes that a storage section equivalent thereof is an inherent feature of the FMCW radar of Figure 1 and 7).
Regarding claim 13, see claim 1 above for overlapping subject matter, claim 13 further recites an external apparatus that can communicate with the biological condition measurement apparatus, Sun discloses in in page 68519 , right column, “The results are calculated by performing the decomposition of a simulated vital signal on a laptop” and/or page 68520 in text associated with Figure 8, a laptop for post signal processing, the laptop reads on an external apparatus.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BONIFACE N NGANGA whose telephone number is (571)270-7393. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Thurs. 5:30 am - 4:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ANNE M KOZAK can be reached at (571) 270-0552. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BONIFACE N NGANGA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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