DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 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 –
(b) the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of application for patent in the United States.
Claims 1-2 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(b) as being anticipated by Fright et al (WO2007043899A1, the citations below are from the equivalent of US20090213213A1).
Regarding claim 1, Fright teaches method of visualizing a tissue with a portable (“FIG. 5 shows one embodiment employing a personal digital assistant (PDA) for performing methods” [0052]; “[0053] FIG. 6 shows a bottom view of a Tablet PC and 3-D camera; [0054] FIG. 7 shows a top view of the Tablet PC and 3-D camera of FIG. 6.; “apparatus for performing the method may take a variety of forms ranging from a stationary system (having a stationary camera or a handheld camera connected wirelessly or by a cable) to a fully portable unit. Portable units in the form of PDAs, cell phones, notebooks, ultramobile PCs etc.” [0070]), handheld device of a visualization system comprising:
coupling a housing to a wireless communication device such that at least a portion of the wireless communication device is received in the housing (“FIG. 10 shows an apparatus … 50 includes a PDA 51, with a housing 52 containing a camera 53, laser generator 54 and a GPS receiver 55. The GPS receiver may alternatively be provided in a separate module, within the PDA 51 or in a plugin card. When external to the PDA, the positioning module may be connected to the PDA via any suitable wired or wireless connection.” [0083]; “the lasers and camera could be combined so that they can be housed in a detachable unit from the PDA” [0092]);
illuminating a target tissue with excitation light produced by at least one excitation light source, the at least one excitation light source emitting at least one wavelength or wavelength band (“illumination means (such as a white LED 44 for low power applications) can be used” [0059]; “The auxiliary sensor may also be an optical probe, which illuminates the skin or wound and analyses the spectrum of scattered light. For example, a fluorescence probe could be used” [0088]);
detecting optical signals emitted in response to illumination of the target tissue with the excitation light with an image sensor of a camera of the wireless communication device (“the image is captured by camera 1” [0060]; “The area of a wound may be calculated by calculating the pixel area of wound 7 from a captured image” [0062]); and
determining a presence, condition, and/or location of components of the target tissue and/or bacterial, fungal, yeast, or other microorganisms present in and/or on the target tissue based on the detected signals and outputting a representation identifying the presence and/or location of the tissue components and/or bacterial, fungal, yeast, or other microorganisms in and/or on the target tissue in the representation (“image is captured by the camera of the PDA and displayed by touch screen 22. A user can draw an outline 24 about the boundary of the wound 25 using input device 23 on touch screen 22” [0070]).
Regarding claim 2, Fright teaches a portable, handheld system for outputting a representation of a target tissue (“Portable units in the form of PDAs, cell phones, notebooks, ultramobile PCs etc. including an integrated or plug-in camera” [0070]), the system comprising:
a housing configured to removably receive at least a portion of a wireless communication device, the housing having an exterior housing surface (“FIG. 10 shows an apparatus … 50 includes a PDA 51, with a housing 52 containing a camera 53, laser generator 54 and a GPS receiver 55. The GPS receiver may alternatively be provided in a separate module, within the PDA 51 or in a plugin card. When external to the PDA, the positioning module may be connected to the PDA via any suitable wired or wireless connection.” [0083]; “the lasers and camera could be combined so that they can be housed in a detachable unit from the PDA” [0092]);
at least one excitation light source configured to emit a field of excitation light, the at least one excitation light source being coupled to the exterior housing surface and configured to illuminate a target tissue with the excitation light (“illumination means (such as a white LED 44 for low power applications) can be used” [0059]; “The auxiliary sensor may also be an optical probe, which illuminates the skin or wound and analyses the spectrum of scattered light. For example, a fluorescence probe could be used” [0088]);
a power supply contained in the housing and configured to provide power to the at least one excitation light source (e.g., power supply of “Portable units in the form of PDAs, cell phones, notebooks, ultramobile PCs etc. including an integrated or plug-in camera allow great flexibility” [0070]); and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed by the wireless communication device, causes the wireless communication device to perform operations comprising (“portable computing device” [0035]):
by a sensor of an image acquisition device of the wireless communication device, detecting signals responsive to illumination of the target tissue, each signal indicative of at least one of endogenous fluorescence, exogenous fluorescence, absorbance, and reflectance from one or more biomarkers in and/or on the target tissue (“sensor may also be an optical probe, which illuminates the skin or wound and analyses the spectrum of scattered light. For example, a fluorescence probe” [0088]),
by a processor of the wireless communication device, receiving the detected signals and outputting a representation of the target tissue based on the detected signals (“the image is captured by camera 1” [0060]; “The area of a wound may be calculated by calculating the pixel area of wound 7 from a captured image” [0062]), and
by a display of the wireless communication device, displaying the representation of the target surface output by the processor (“Data may be displayed on the PDA's screen, and may be overlaid on the associated image” [0090]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SERKAN AKAR whose telephone number is (571)270-5338. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm M-F.
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/SERKAN AKAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797