DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the housing containing: a plurality of selectable filters configured to permit optical signals responsive to illumination of the target surface and having a wavelength, as claimed in claim 1 must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation of “during imaging” in line 3 and further recites “during fluorescent imaging” which is not clear if those imaging are the same or different “imaging”.
The term “substantially uniformly illuminate” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially uniformly” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is not clear how much illumination would be considered substantially uniformly illuminate a target surface as the meets and bounds of the substantially uniformly as it is claimed.
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 Chhibber et al (US20070064985A1).
Regarding the claim 1, Chhibber teaches a system for acquiring data regarding a target (“system for analyzing skin conditions using digital images” abst), comprising:
a first excitation light source (see light source 120 in re-produced figs below and the associated pars) positioned to substantially uniformly illuminate a target surface with excitation light during imaging (see in re-produced figs below and the associated pars); and
a portable housing (e.g., “digital camera 200”) configured to be held in a user's hand during fluorescent imaging (“the UV light sources 120 are turned on to send a flash of UV light to the subject 101. The flash of UV light should include a band of UV wavelengths the can causes the skin associated with the subject 101 to fluoresce” [0050]), the housing containing:
PNG
media_image1.png
335
601
media_image1.png
Greyscale
PNG
media_image2.png
454
624
media_image2.png
Greyscale
a plurality of selectable filters configured to permit optical signals responsive to illumination of the target surface and having a wavelength corresponding to bacterial, fungal, and/or other microorganism autofluorescence and bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescence to pass through the filter, the plurality of selectable filters respectively corresponding to different discrete spectral bandwidths (“camera 200 is converted from a conventional, off-the-shelf digital camera, such as the one shown in FIG. 2C, by adding the light sources 120”… Each of the UV light sources 120 can be one converted from light source 300 by changing a low-pass filter 310 in front of the light source 300 into a UV filter 310… In addition to the white-light and UV filters, some or all of the light sources 120 may also have infrared absorbing filters 315 installed [0041]; “The flash of UV light should include a band of UV wavelengths the can causes the skin associated with the subject 101 to fluoresce” [0050]),
an image sensor configured to detect the filtered optical signals (“the shutter of the camera is opened at step 840 so that the first UV image is captured by the sensor 114” [0050]; “acquired digital images include a first white-light image and a first UV image. Each of the first white-light and UV images includes a plurality of pixels. Each pixel in the first white-light or UV image corresponds to a pixel in the sensor 114” [0045]), and
a processor configured to receive the detected optical signals and to output data regarding a spatial distribution of an infection in the target surface based on the detected optical signals (“the processor to perform a method for analyzing skin conditions” as outlined in claim 28 of Chhibber; “Module 730 may include submodules 732 for performing UV damage and skin tone analysis, and submodules 734 for locating and quantifying localized skin conditions” [0048]).
Regarding the claim 2, Chhibber teaches method for acquiring data regarding a wound in tissue (“method and a system for analyzing skin conditions using digital images” abst; “skin pixel is likely one of a group of contiguous pixels that have captured fluorescence coming from an inflamed pore upon illumination by a UV flash” [0064]), comprising:
illuminating a wound with excitation light comprising at least one wavelength or wavelength band causing at least one biomarker in the illuminated wound to fluoresce (see light source 120 in re-produced figs above and the associated pars; “the UV light sources 120 are turned on to send a flash of UV light to the subject 101. The flash of UV light should include a band of UV wavelengths the can causes the skin associated with the subject 101 to fluoresce” [0050]);
filtering, with a first filter of a plurality of selectable filters included in a spectral filtering mechanism, optical signals emitted in response to illumination of the wound with the excitation light, the spectral filtering mechanism being configured to enable optical signals having a wavelength (“the UV filter is a bandpass filter that provides a transmission spectrum 320 having a width of about 50 nm and a peak wavelength of about 365 nm. In comparison, the low-pass filter 310 would provide a transmission spectrum, such as one of spectra 330 shown in FIG. 3B” [0041]) corresponding to bacterial, fungal, and/or other microorganism autofluorescence and/or bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescence to pass through the spectral filtering mechanism, wherein the plurality of selectable filters respectively correspond to different discrete spectral bandwidths (“camera 200 is converted from a conventional, off-the-shelf digital camera, such as the one shown in FIG. 2C, by adding the light sources 120”… Each of the UV light sources 120 can be one converted from light source 300 by changing a low-pass filter 310 in front of the light source 300 into a UV filter 310… In addition to the white-light and UV filters, some or all of the light sources 120 may also have infrared absorbing filters 315 installed [0041]; “The flash of UV light should include a band of UV wavelengths the can causes the skin associated with the subject 101 to fluoresce” [0050]);
collecting, through the first filter, bacterial, fungal, and/or other microorganism autofluorescence data and/or bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescence data regarding the wound with an optical sensor configured to detect the spectrally filtered signals (“the shutter of the camera is opened at step 840 so that the first UV image is captured by the sensor 114” [0050]);
receiving the collected bacterial, fungal, and/or other microorganism autofluorescence data and/or bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescence data at a processor and identifying a fluorescent signature of bacteria, fungus, virus, and/or other microbe in and/or around the wound based at least in part on the collected bacterial, fungal, and/or other microorganism autofluorescence data and/or bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescence data and outputting data regarding the bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or microbial fluorescent signature (“shutter of the camera is opened at step 860 so that the first white-light image is captured by the sensor 114. Module 710 further includes a step 870 in which the first white-light and UV images are transferred from the camera 200 into the computing device 130” [0052]).
Conclusion
This is a sister of applicant's earlier Application No. 19027622. All claims are identical to (see claims filed on 1/17/2025 and examined on 4/10/2025), patentably indistinct from, or have unity of invention with the invention claimed in the earlier application (that is, restriction (including lack of unity) would not be proper) and could have been finally rejected on the grounds and art of record in the next Office action if they had been entered in the earlier application. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL even though it is a first action in this case. See MPEP § 706.07(b). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Koharski can be reached on 571-272 7230. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SERKAN AKAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797