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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on May 12, 2025, is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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.
Claims 3-5 and 7-9 are 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 3 recites the term “The medical support device " in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Since this is an independent claim, the examiner suggests replacing “The medical support device” with “A medical support device”.
The term “roughly” in claim 7 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “roughly” 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. Claim 7 recites “the major category is roughly classified into a first major category and a second major category” which appears to be an indefinite process of dividing the major category into two categories.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-6, 10-13, 15 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable by Yoshiyuki et al. (JP2016/002206A).
Regarding claim 1, Yoshiyuki discloses a medical support device comprising: a processor (processing device 14 [0015]), wherein the processor is configured to: recognize a plurality of parts in an observation target on the basis of a plurality of medical images including the observation target (plurality of parts in the stomach diagram in schema 42 including the parts denoted by display aspects 44a-44d, appearing to be triangles, circles and squares; multiple medical images are acquired through endoscope 12 [0032]); and in a case where an unrecognized part in the observation target is present in the plurality of parts, output unrecognized information capable of specifying that the unrecognized part is present (circle mark is the second display mode which expresses that a part/observation site has not been completed [0041], analogous to unrecognized part; circle mark is the unrecognized information), and wherein: the plurality of parts include a subsequent part that is scheduled to be recognized by the processor after the unrecognized part (third display aspect is triangle mark which expresses the observation site/part to be observed next [0041]), and the processor is configured to output the unrecognized information on condition that the subsequent part is recognized (if a part/observation site is not observed yet, a circle mark denotes its spot, even as the next observation spot/part, denoted by a triangle, is observed).
Regarding claim 2, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 1, further disclosing wherein the processor is configured to output the unrecognized information on the basis of a first order, which is an order in which the plurality of parts are recognized by the processor (processing device 14 is configured to output the circle marks in an order which the plurality of observation sites/parts are recognized by the processing device, meaning the circle marks are output even as other observation sites/parts are recognized and indicated with a square mark), and a second order, which is an order in which a plurality of scheduled parts that include the unrecognized part and that are scheduled to be recognized by the processor are recognized by the processor (processing device 14 is configured to output the circle marks in an order which the plurality of observation sites/parts that include the unrecognized part and are scheduled to be recognized by the processing device 14 are recognized, meaning the circle marks are output even as other observation sites/parts are recognized and indicated with a square mark; output of the unrecognized part in the first order and the second order do not appear to be dependent on the output of other observation sites/parts).
Regarding claim 3, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device comprising: a processor (processing device 14 [0015]), wherein the processor is configured to: recognize a plurality of parts in an observation target on the basis of a plurality of medical images including the observation target (plurality of parts in the stomach diagram in schema 42 including the parts denoted by display aspects 44a-44d, appearing to be triangles, circles and squares); and in a case where an unrecognized part in the observation target is present in the plurality of parts, output unrecognized information capable of specifying that the unrecognized part is present (circle mark is the second display mode which expresses that a part/observation site has not been completed [0041], analogous to unrecognized part; circle mark is the unrecognized information). Yoshiyuki teaches where importance is assigned to the plurality of parts (order in which doctors create findings is not directly related to the imaging order of the observation site, doctors describe findings according to importance of the observation site, findings are often made in order from findings of the observation site of high importance [0047]), and the unrecognized information includes importance information capable of specifying the importance (shape of the display aspect such as circle, square and triangle [0041] may be importance information for specifying the importance).
Regarding claim 4, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 3, wherein the importance corresponding to a part which is scheduled to be recognized by the processor before a designated part, among the plurality of parts, is higher than the importance corresponding to a part which is scheduled to be recognized after the designated part, among the plurality of parts (importance corresponding to the observation site 44b, which is scheduled to be recognized by the processing device 14 before 44d, is higher than the importance corresponding to 44d; In Fig. 9, importance indicated by triangle mark of 44b, the next observation site/part, can be denoted as higher than the importance of circle mark 44d).
Regarding claim 5, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of parts are classified into a major category and a minor category included in the major category (plurality of observation sites/parts can be classified into two categories, the first being the category of observation sites/parts that have been observed, denoted with a square, analogous to the major category, and the second being the category of observation sites/parts that have not been observed, denoted with a circle, analogous to the minor category, such as seen in Fig. 9), and the importance corresponding to a part which is classified into the minor category, among the plurality of parts, is higher than the importance corresponding to a part which is classified into the major category, among the plurality of parts (importance corresponding to an observation site/part which is classified in the minor category, such as 44d in Fig. 9, is given higher importance than the observation site/part classified in the major category, such as 44a in Fig. 9, indicated by their shapes).
Regarding claim 6, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of parts are classified into a major category and a minor category included in the major category, and the unrecognized part is a part which is classified into the minor category, among the plurality of parts (observation site/part are classified in categories which are depicted by the display aspect, that may be a triangle, square, or circle [0041]; circle mark is the second display mode which expresses that a part/observation site has not been completed [0041], analogous to unrecognized part; circle mark is the unrecognized information, also may be indicative of the minor category).
Regarding claim 10, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 1, further disclosing wherein an output destination of the unrecognized information includes a display device (display aspects including the circle marks are displayed on display device 16 [0046]).
Regarding claim 11, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 10, further disclosing wherein the unrecognized information includes a first image capable of specifying the unrecognized part (Fig. 7: circle mark specifies the unrecognized part [0041]) and a second image capable of specifying parts other than the unrecognized part, among the plurality of parts (Fig. 7: square mark specifies other observation site/parts other than the unrecognized part [0041]), and the first image and the second image are displayed on the display device in an aspect in which the first image and the second image are distinguishable (Fig. 7: triangle mark 44a and circle marks 44b-d are displayed on display device 16 and are distinguishable).
Regarding claim 12, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 11, further disclosing wherein a schematic view in which the observation target is divided into a plurality of regions corresponding to the plurality of parts is displayed on the display device (regions A-D/observation site A-D displayed on the schema 42 of a stomach [0038, 0048-0049]), and the first image and the second image are displayed in the schematic view in an aspect in which the first image and the second image are distinguishable (Fig. 9: first image, indicated by the circle mark, and second image, indicated by the square mark are displayed on the schema 42 and are distinguishable).
Regarding claim 13, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 12, further disclosing wherein the observation target is a luminal organ (observation target appears as a schema 42, which appears to be a stomach [0038]), and the schematic view is a second schematic view perspectively showing a schematic aspect of the luminal organ (Fig. 7: schema 42 is a view perspectively showing a schematic aspect of a stomach).
Regarding claim 15, Yoshiyuki discloses the medical support device according to claim 11, further disclosing wherein importance is assigned to the plurality of parts (importance is assigned to the observation sites [0047]), and a display aspect of the first image differs depending on the importance (shape of the observation site/part that is unrecognized is a circle that differs from the other shape, to indicate on the schema 42 that the observation site/part has not yet been recognized).
Regarding claim 18, Yoshiyuki dicloses an endoscope comprising: the medical support device according to claim 1; and an image acquisition device that acquires an endoscopic image as the medical image (endoscopic image 12 captured by endoscope 12 and displayed on right side of display device 16 [0032]).
Regarding claim 19, Yoshiyuki discloses a medical support method comprising: recognizing a plurality of parts in an observation target on the basis of a plurality of medical images including the observation target (plurality of parts in the stomach diagram in schema 42 including the parts denoted by display aspects 44a-44d, appearing to be triangles, circles and squares; multiple medical images are acquired through endoscope 12 [0032]); and in a case where an unrecognized part in the observation target is present in the plurality of parts, outputting unrecognized information capable of specifying that the unrecognized part is present (circle mark is the second display mode which expresses that a part/observation site has not been completed [0041], analogous to unrecognized part; circle mark is the unrecognized information), and wherein: the plurality of parts include a subsequent part that is scheduled to be recognized by the processor after the unrecognized part (third display aspect is triangle mark which expresses the observation site/part to be observed next [0041]), and the medical support method comprises outputting the unrecognized information on condition that the subsequent part is recognized (if a part/observation site is not observed yet, a circle mark denotes its spot, even as the next observation spot/part, denoted by a triangle, is observed).
Regarding claim 20, Yoshiyuki discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program executable by a computer (processing device 14 [0015]) to execute a process comprising: recognizing a plurality of parts in an observation target on the basis of a plurality of medical images including the observation target (plurality of parts in the stomach diagram in schema 42 including the parts denoted by display aspects 44a-44d, appearing to be triangles, circles and squares; multiple medical images are acquired through endoscope 12 [0032]); and in a case where an unrecognized part in the observation target is present in the plurality of parts, outputting unrecognized information capable of specifying that the unrecognized part is present (circle mark is the second display mode which expresses that a part/observation site has not been completed [0041], analogous to unrecognized part; circle mark is the unrecognized information), and wherein: the plurality of parts include a subsequent part that is scheduled to be recognized by the processor after the unrecognized part (third display aspect is triangle mark which expresses the observation site/part to be observed next [0041]), and the process comprises outputting the unrecognized information on condition that the subsequent part is recognized (if a part/observation site is not observed yet, a circle mark denotes its spot, even as the next observation spot/part, denoted by a triangle, is observed).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8, 9, 14, 16 and 17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 7 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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:
Claims 7-9 comprise limitations that specify wherein the processor of the medical support device classifies the plurality of parts into a major category and a minor category, wherein either major category or minor category may be further divided into a second subset of categories, further specifying a sequence in which each part of the plurality of parts, dependent on its classification in the major category, minor category, and/or second subset of categories, is recognized in the sequence of observation during the procedure. The prior art on record fails to explicitly teach the limitations as required by the claims, individually or in lesser combinations. Additionally, there is no reason, teaching or suggesting with any prior art of record to modify the medical support device of Yoshiyuki to include the second subset of categories, and the sequence of recognitions that occurs dependent on the classification of each part in the plurality of parts. A hypothetical prior art rejection would require impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Claims 14 recites wherein “the first image is displayed on the display device in a state in which the first image is emphasized more than the second image”.
Claim 16 recites wherein “the display aspect of the first image differs depending on a type of unrecognized part”.
These limitations, in combination with other limitations of intervening claims and the independent claim, are not anticipated over the prior art. There is no reason, teaching or suggesting with any prior art of record to modify the medical support device of Yoshiyuki to include wherein the first image is displayed on the display device in a state in which is first image is emphasized more than the second image or wherein a display aspect of the first image differs depending on a type of the unrecognized part. A hypothetical prior art rejection would require impermissible hindsight reasoning.
Claim 17 recites limitations describing scenarios in which the endoscope is inserted into the body in a certain direction and various parts of the body are recognized, that the information regarding the parts, including unrecognized information, is output in a particular sequence. These limitations, in combination with other limitations of intervening claims and the independent claim, are not anticipated over the prior art. A hypothetical prior art rejection would require impermissible hindsight reasoning.
For the reasons stated above, claims 7-9, 14, 16 and 17 were indicated as containing allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Saiga et al. (US2024/0138652) appears to teach the limitations of claim 1, 3, 19 and 20.
Saito et al. (US2022/0020496) appears to teach the limitations of claim 1, 3, 19 and 20.
Tada et al. (US20210153808) appears to teach the limitations of claim 1, 3, 19 and 20.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LI-TING SONG whose telephone number is (571)272-5771. The examiner can normally be reached 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anhtuan Nguyen can be reached at 571-272-4963. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/LI-TING SONG/Examiner, Art Unit 3795
/ANHTUAN T NGUYEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3795
09/09/26
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