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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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) 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rose et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 20220409148) in view of Wang et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication 20120059253).
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As per claims 1, 15 and 16, Rose et al. disclose an apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:
sequentially acquire an X-ray image including a device (5) inserted into a subject (16);
to detect a distal end of the device on the X-ray image (¶[0032-0034]; Figs. 1-2 shown above)
Rose et al. do not explicitly disclose an apparatus configured to determine a position on the device distant from the distal end, as a base point and to generate an image in which at least a position of the base point is located at a same position or within a predetermined range including the position, among a plurality of X-ray images, and display the image on a display.
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Wang et al. teach guiding catheter tip (404) and IVUS catheter (408), wherein the guiding catheter tip (404) is used as a reference point for registering IVUS catheter (408) locations and the positions of the IVUS catheter (408) and guiding catheter tip (404) are continuously identified in frames of a fluoroscopic image sequence(¶¶[0036-0037] - Fig. 4 shown above).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the apparatus of Rose et al. to determine a position on the device distant from the distal end as a reference point and utilize the reference point for registration of device locations among image frames, as taught by Wang et al. One would have been motivated to make such a modification to ensure a stable and distinguishable reference point is used to register device locations in sequential fluoroscopic images as taught by Wang et al. (¶[0037]).
[Examiner note: Claims 1, 15, and 16 are rejected together because claims 15 and 16 recite the apparatus and computer-readable-medium implementation of substantially the same image processing operations recited in claim 1].
Claims 2-7 recite setting a display region extending from the distal end to the base point, displaying the display region, detecting a device line, determining the base point along the device line at a predetermined distance from the distal end, selecting the predetermined distance according to imaging conditions or protocol, converting the predetermined distance into image pixels, and accounting for three-dimensional device information.
These features define a portion of the device to be displayed and provide a method for determining and locating the base point within the image.
It would have been obvious to define the displayed device region using the distal end and base point and to determine the base point using distance-based geometric relationships, image coordinates, and available imaging geometry because such operations represent predictable implementation details for tracking and displaying a selected portion of a device in sequential medical images.
Claims 8-10 recite changing the predetermined distance according to an amount of change of the device in the display region, proposing a change of the base point when a threshold is exceeded, and receiving user input to change the base point.
These features adjust the displayed device region when device movement changes and allow the user to modify the selected base point.
It would have been obvious to adapt the base-point location according to device movement and provide notification and user control because such features improve usability and allow the displayed region to remain relevant during an interventional procedure.
Claims 11-14 recite displaying the distal end, device line, base point, or display-region frame as distinguishable overlays, determining a second base point at a different distance from the distal end, generating a display region using the base point and second base point, maintaining the second base point within the display region, and displaying an enlarged region together with the display region.
These features provide additional visual references and display options for viewing the tracked device.
It would have been obvious to provide additional reference points, visual overlays, and enlarged display views because such features assist a user in viewing, tracking, and navigating the device within the displayed medical images.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COURTNEY D THOMAS whose telephone number is (571)272-2496. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9 AM - 5 PM.
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/COURTNEY D THOMAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884
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