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
The instant application claims priority to and benefit of CN Application No. 202210907320X, filed on 07/29/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (“IDS”) filed on 02/27/2025, 01/06/2026, and 06/15/2026 were reviewed and the listed references were noted.
Drawings
The 7 page drawings have been considered and placed on record in the file.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-10, 12-20 and 26 are currently pending.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-2, 4, 9-10, 12-13, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 20200037975) in view of Yang (US 20170084025).
Consider Claim 1, Zhu teaches “A system, comprising: at least one storage device storing a set of instructions;” (Zhu; [0043]; “One or more corn ponents of the PET system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the storage device 150 via the network 120.”) “and at least one processor in communication with the storage device, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is configured to cause the device to perform operations including:” (Zhu; [0092]; “For example, the process 500 may be stored in the storage device1 50 and/or the storage 220 in the form of instructions (e.g., an application), and invoked and/or executed by the processing device 140 (e.g., the processor 210 illustrated in FIG. 2, or one or more modules in the processing device 140 illustrated in FIG. 4).”) “obtaining a plurality of local input functions of an object, each of the plurality of local input functions being of a scanning area of the object,” (Zhu; [0068-0069]; “The input function determination module 440 may be configured to determine a first portion of a blood input function (also referred to as an arterial time-activity curve (TAC)) of the tracer in the subject based on the PET images (e.g., the dynamic PET images). The first portion of the blood input function may indicate activities (or concentrations) of the tracer during the first time period. Merely by way of example, the input function determination module 440 may determine a same ROI or volume of interest (VOI) for each of the PET images.”) “one of the plurality of local input functions being obtained based on a scan for one of a plurality of table positions where a table for placing the object is located,” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions. During a pass, the multiple bed position scans may be taken in sequence (one bed position after another bed position in real time).”).
Zhu does not explicitly teach “wherein adjacent table positions in the plurality of table positions correspond to an overlapping scanning area; obtaining local input functions of at least one overlapping scanning area based on the plurality of local input functions; and determining a continuous input function of at least a portion of a target scanning area based on the local input functions of the at least one overlapping scanning area.”. However, in an analogous field of endeavor, Yang teaches “wherein adjacent table positions in the plurality of table positions correspond to an overlapping scanning area;” (Yang; [0097]; “Besides, the imaging device 110 may scan the object in more than two bed positions. In some embodiments, there may be an overlapping region between two adjacent bed positions”) “obtaining local input functions of at least one overlapping scanning area based on the plurality of local input functions;” (Yang; [0051];”‘First overlapping imaging data may refer to imaging data of the overlapping regions produced at a first bed position. Second overlapping imaging data may refer to imaging data of the overlapping region produced at a second bed position.”) “and determining a continuous input function of at least a portion of a target scanning area based on the local input functions of the at least one overlapping scanning area.” (Yang; [0051]; “In some embodiments, the first overlapping imaging data and the second overlapping imaging data may be merged to form merged imaging data. The merged imaging data may be reconstructed to generate an image of the overlapping region.”). Accordingly, before the effective filing date of the instant application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Zhu with the teachings of Yang to further stitch together different overlapping scans at different table positions. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Zhu and Yang to create a full encompassing and accurate medical image when an object or patient is longer that the length of a PET device for diagnosis. Accordingly, the combination of Zhu and Yang discloses the invention of Claim 1.
Consider Claim 2, “The system of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a plurality of local input functions of an object includes: for one table position of the plurality of table positions,” (Zhu; [0068-0069]; “The input function determination module 440 may be configured to determine a first portion of a blood input function (also referred to as an arterial time-activity curve (TAC)) of the tracer in the subject based on the PET images (e.g., the dynamic PET images). The first portion of the blood input function may indicate activities (or concentrations) of the tracer during the first time period.”) “obtaining scanning data of the object acquired when the table is at the table position; and” (Zhu; [0061]; “In some embodiments, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject at a single bed position (or fixed field of view, FOV) during the first time period.”) “determining the local input function of the scanning area corresponding to the table position based on the scanning data.” (Zhu; Abstract; “The method may also include determining a first portion of a blood input function of the tracer in the subject based on the PET images.”).
Consider Claim 4, “The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of table positions include a target table position corresponding to a target scanning area,” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions. During a pass, the multiple bed position scans may be taken in sequence (one bed position after another bed position in real time).”) “a first reference table position adjacent to and subsequent to the target table position, and a second reference table position adjacent to and subsequent to the first reference table position;” (Yang; [0055]; “ In some embodiments, first overlapping imaging data corresponding to the overlapping region in the first image may be extracted from the first image data; second overlapping imaging data corresponding to the overlapping region in the second image may be extracted from the second imaging data.”) “the at least one overlapping scanning area includes a first overlapping scanning area between the target table position and the first reference table position, and a second overlapping scanning area between the first reference table position and the second reference table position,” (Yang; Abstract; “A first image and a second image may be reconstructed based on the first data and the second data, respectively. Third data and fourth data corresponding to the overlapping region may be extracted from the first data and the second data…”) “and determining a continuous input function of at least a portion of the target scanning area includes:” (Yang; [0055]; “The merged imaging data may be reconstructed to generate an image of the overlapping region, also referred to as a third image.”)
obtaining a first local input function of the first overlapping scanning area in the first time period;” (Yang; [0055]; “…first overlapping imaging data corresponding to the overlapping region in the first image may be extracted from the first image data…”) “obtaining a second local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in the first time period;” (Yang; [005]; “…second overlapping imaging data corresponding to the overlapping region in the second image may be extracted from the second imaging data.”) “obtaining a third local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in the second time period;” (Yang; FIG. 11 (See image below)) “obtaining a first ratio of the first local input function to the second local input function; and” (Yang; [0054]; “For a first image taken at a first bed position and a second image taken at a second bed position, the overlapping ratio of the overlapping region with respect to a first image or a second image may be any value from 0 to 1, e.g., 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, etc. As used herein, an overlapping ratio may refer to the ratio of the size of an overlapping region to the size of an image including the overlapping region.”) “obtaining at least one a portion of the continuous input function in the second time period based on the first ratio and the third local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in the second time period.” (Yang; FIG. 10; Step 1060 (See image below)). The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Zhu and Yang references presented in the rejection of claim 1, apply to claim 4 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the method recited in claim 4 is met by Zhu and Yang.
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Consider Claim 9, “The system of claim 1, wherein the obtaining a plurality of local input functions of an object includes: obtaining scanning data collected by a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner” (Zhu; Abstract; “The method may also include generating PET images by reconstructing the PET data that are generated by the PET scanner based on the scans of the subject.”) “when the object is located on the table at the plurality of table positions;” (Zhu; [0012]; “In some embodiments, the PET scanner may perform the scans of the subject at a single bed position or at multiple bed positions.”) “and determining the plurality of local input functions based on the scanning data collected by the PET scanner,” (Yang; [0004]; “ First data at a first bed position and second data at a second bed position may be received, wherein the first and second bed position may have an overlapping region. A first image may be reconstructed based on the first data. A second image may be reconstructed based on the second data.”) “wherein a length of the object is greater than an axial FOV length of the PET scanner.” (Yang; [0003]; “the axial length of the detector may be smaller than the length of the patient under examination, besides, at one bed position, an image obtained may be with a non-uniform SNR in different region.”). The proposed combination as well as the motivation for combining the Zhu and Yang references presented in the rejection of claim 1, apply to claim 9 and are incorporated herein by reference. Thus, the method recited in claim 9 is met by Zhu and Yang.
Consider Claim 10, “A system, comprising: at least one storage device storing a set of instructions;” (Zhu; [0043]; “One or more components of the PET system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the storage device 150 via the network 120.”) “and at least one processor in communication with the storage device, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is configured to cause the device to perform operations including:” (Zhu; [0092]; “For example, the process 500 may be stored in the storage device1 50 and/or the storage 220 in the form of instructions (e.g., an application), and invoked and/or executed by the processing device 140 (e.g., the processor 210 illustrated in FIG. 2, or one or more modules in the processing device 140 illustrated in FIG. 4).”) “obtaining a plurality of local parametric information of an object, each of the plurality of local parametric information being of a scanning area of the object,” (Zhu; [0002]; “PET imaging, dynamic PET imaging may provide a set of images over a dynamic scan time, and dynamic PET data may also provide rich information related to physiological parameters (e.g., perfusion pressure) that indicate the functional status of the imaged tissue.”) “one of the plurality of local input functions being obtained based on a scan for one of a plurality of table positions where a table for placing the object is located,” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions. During a pass, the multiple bed position scans may be taken in sequence (one bed position after another bed position in real time).”) “(Zhu; [0003]; “The one or more processors may determine kinetic parameters of the kinetic model based on the PET data, the first portion of the blood input function, and the integral of the second portion of the blood input function. The kinetic parameters may indicate a metabolism of the tracer in the subject.”).
Zhu does not explicitly disclose “wherein adjacent table positions in the plurality of table positions correspond to an overlapping scanning area;”. However, in an analogous field of endeavor, Yang teaches “wherein adjacent table positions in the plurality of table positions correspond to an overlapping scanning area; and” (Yang; [0097]; “In some embodiments, there may be an overlapping region between two adjacent bed positions.”). Accordingly, before the effective filing date of the instant application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Zhu with the teachings of Yang to further stitch together different overlapping scans to determine a continuous parameter. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Zhu and Yang to detect any changed in a parameter such as metabolism of the tracer to measure how much viable time is left to continue taking scanned of the object. Accordingly, the combination of Zhu and Yang discloses the invention of Claim 10.
Claims 12-13, 15 and 20 recite a method with steps corresponding to the elements of the system recited in Claim 1-2, 4 and 9. Therefore, the recited steps of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding elements in its corresponding system claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Zhu and Yang references, presented in rejection of Claim 1-2, 4 and 9, apply to this claim.
Claims 3, 8, 14 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 20200037975) in view of Yang (US 20170084025) in further view of Kalemis (“Sequential whole-body PET/MR scanner: concept, clinical use, and optimisation after two years in the clinic. The manufacturer’s perspective” published on August 07, 2012).
Consider Claim 3, the combination of Zhu and Yang teach “The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one overlapping scanning area includes a first overlapping scanning area between a table position and a previous table position and a second overlapping scanning area between the table position and a latter table position,” (Yang; Abstract; “A first image and a second image may be reconstructed based on the first data and the second data, respectively. Third data and fourth data corresponding to the overlapping region may be extracted from the first data and the second data, respectively. Merged data may be generated by merging the third data and the fourth data. A third image may be reconstructed based on the merged data. A fourth image may be generated through image composition based on the first image, the second image, and the third image.”) “and the determining a continuous input function of at least a portion of the target scanning area includes: determining a ratio of a local input function of the first overlapping scanning area and a local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in a first time period for a scan of the table position;” (Yang; [0054]; “For a first image taken at a first bed position and a second image taken at a second bed position, the overlapping ratio of the overlapping region with respect to a first image or a second image may be any value from 0 to 1, e.g., 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, etc. As used herein, an overlapping ratio may refer to the ratio of the size of an overlapping region to the size of an image including the overlapping region.”)
The combination of Zhu and Yang do not explicitly disclose “determining at least one part of the continuous input function based on the ratio and a local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in a second time period for a scan of the latter table position; and obtaining the continuous input function based on the at least one part of the continuous input function.”. However, in an analogous field of endeavor, Kalemis teaches “determining at least one part of the continuous input function based on the ratio and” (Kalemis; Fig. 13 (See image below); “The axial FOV of the PET is 18 cm and overlap between bed positions is 50 %.”; Examiner notes Kalemis teaches maintaining a consistent 50% overlap to output the final merged image.) “a local input function of the second overlapping scanning area in a second time period for a scan of the latter table position;” (Kalemis; Fig. 13 (See image below); “The axial FOV of the PET is 18 cm and overlap between bed positions is 50 %.”; Examiner notes Kalemis teaches “Acquisition of the MRAC scan requires approximately 4–6 min [65], whereas a PET scan with time-of-flight (TOF) can be performed as rapidly as 30 s/bed position, which is equivalent to approximately 5 min whole-body imaging [92, 93].” (emphasis added) (Kalemis; Section Workflow, Para. 3)) “and obtaining the continuous input function based on the at least one part of the continuous input function.” (Kalemis; Fig. 14 (See image below)). Accordingly, before the effective filing date of the instant application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Zhu and Yang with the teachings of Kalemis to further combine additional PET scans from latter table positions. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Zhu, Yang and Kalemis to fully capture the relative length of a target area relative by continuing to evaluate the next overlapping area. Accordingly, the combination of Zhu, Yang and Kalemis discloses the invention of Claim 3.
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Consider Claim 8, the combination of Zhu, Yang and Kalemis teach “The system of claim 3, further including: performing a plurality of rounds of scanning,” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions.”) “each round of the plurality of rounds of scanning including scans of the plurality of table positions; and” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions.” (emphasis added)) “determining the continuous input function of at least a portion of the target scanning area includes: determining the continuous input function of the at least a portion of target scanning area in a round of scanning based on the local input functions of the at least one overlapping scanning area in the round of scanning.” (Zhu; [0061]; “ In some embodiments, during the first time period, the PET scanner 110 may perform the scans of the subject through repeated passes each of which includes multiple bed positions. During a pass, the multiple bed position scans may be taken in sequence (one bed position after another bed position in real time).”; Examiner notes it would be obvious to a person in the art that repeated scans of multiple bed positions in the same sequence would also capture the overlapping area multiple times.).
Claims 14 and 19 recite a method with steps corresponding to the elements of the system recited in Claims 3 and 8. Therefore, the recited steps of this claim are mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding elements in its corresponding system claim. Additionally, the rationale and motivation to combine the Zhu, Yang and Kalemis references, presented in rejection of Claim 14 and 19, apply to this claim.
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 20200037975) in view of Yang (US 20170084025) in further view of Ford (US 20170281071).
Consider Claim 26, the combination of Zhu and Yang does not explicitly disclose the limitations of Claim 26. However, in an analogous field of endeavor, Ford teaches “The system of claim 10, wherein obtaining a trained machine learning model; and determining the continuous parametric information of the target scanning area by using the trained machine learning model based on the plurality of local parametric information.” (Ford; [0014]; “…determining a plurality of parameter values, at least one parameter value in a value from the interval set and based on the analysis of the triplet in the subset of at least one of the course of the MEG data is determined; inputting the parameter value based on the parameter and the trained model to determine whether the test patient cognitive impairment and providing determined.”). Accordingly, before the effective filing date of the instant application, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine Zhu and Yang with the teachings of Ford to further implement a machine learning model to determine a continuous parameter. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Zhu, Yang and Ford to more accurately detect and diagnose a medical anomaly or disorder (Ford; [0008]). Accordingly, the combination of Zhu, Yang and Ford discloses the invention of Claim 26.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but could be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: none of the cited prior art references, alone or in combination, provides a motivation to teach calculate an average value of an overlap ratio during one time duration, or the ordered combination of the limitations: “obtaining an average value of ratios of the first local input function to the second local input function, at multiple time points in the first time period; and determining the average value as the first ratio.”, recited in Claims 5 and 7 with the limitations of claims it depends from.
Consider Claim 6, the combination of Zhu, Yang and does not explicitly teach the limitations of Claim 6. In an analogous field of endeavor, Schubert (“Whole Body PET Using Overlapped 3D Acquisition and Weighted Image Summation” published on November 02-09, 1996) teaches “The system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of table positions further includes a third reference table position,” (Schubert; Figure 4 (See image below); “Each row represents a different overlap amount (in slices)…”) “the at least one overlapping scanning area further includes a third overlapping scanning area between the second reference table position and the third reference table position,” (Schubert; Figure 4 (See image below)) “and the determining a continuous input function of the at least a portion of the target scanning area includes: obtaining a fourth local input function of the third overlapping scanning area in the second time period;” (Schubert; Figure 4 (See image below), “Overlapped regions are within the vertical dashed lines.”; Examiner notes Schubert teaches “…the CV has accounted for variance terms of decay, dead- time, duration, etc.,” (Schubert; Section 2) and Figure 4 is interpreted to capture each slice and overlap at different times and table positions.)
Conclusion
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/ANNIE H PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2662
/Siamak Harandi/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2662
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