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) submitted on 02/25/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5, 9, 10 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kunio et al. (Pub. No.: CN 114585297).
Consider claims 1-5, 9, 15, Kunio discloses a surgery assistance device (paragraph [0011], systems that enable physicians to connect between two different imaging modalities (including, for example, coronary angiography and intravascular imaging) during PCI involve registration) comprising:
a processor (paragraph [0018], processor) programmed to:
set a predetermined time interval corresponding to a pulsation cycle of a heart and sequentially acquire an angiographic image representing a target blood vessel into which a medical device is inserted at the predetermined time interval (paragraph [0094], imaging system 20 can also be connected to the electrocardiogram (ECG) device 60 for recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time wherein the imaging system 20 may also include an image processor 40 for receiving angiography data, intravascular imaging data and data from the ECG device 60); and
sequentially correct the angiographic image sequentially acquired and generate a corrected angiographic image by correcting the angiographic image to be corrected in such a manner that a position of a specific portion of the medical device included in the angiographic image to be corrected approaches a position of the specific portion of the medical device included in the angiographic image acquired temporally earlier than the angiographic image to be corrected (paragraph [0021], detect marker positions on the selected angiographic frame using the trained model, and repeatedly checking whether the marker positions are correct or accurate and paragraph [0125], over a specific period, movement can be evaluated by comparing the detected/predicted marker positions at the first and last frames of the sequence).
Consider claims 10, 16, Kunio discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon a program (paragraph [0169], non-transitory computer-readable medium) executed by a surgery assistance device (paragraph [0011], systems that enable physicians to connect between two different imaging modalities (including, for example, coronary angiography and intravascular imaging) during PCI involve registration) to perform:
an angiographic image acquisition step that sets a predetermined time interval corresponding to a pulsation cycle of a heart and sequentially acquires an angiographic image representing a target blood vessel into which a medical device is inserted at the predetermined time interval (paragraph [0094], imaging system 20 can also be connected to the electrocardiogram (ECG) device 60 for recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time wherein the imaging system 20 may also include an image processor 40 for receiving angiography data, intravascular imaging data and data from the ECG device 60); and
an image correction step that sequentially corrects the angiographic image sequentially acquired by the angiographic image acquisition step, the image correction step generating a corrected angiographic image by correcting the angiographic image to be corrected in such a manner that a position of a specific portion of the medical device included in the angiographic image to be corrected approaches a position of the specific portion of the medical device included in the angiographic image acquired temporally earlier than the angiographic image to be corrected (paragraph [0021], detect marker positions on the selected angiographic frame using the trained model, and repeatedly checking whether the marker positions are correct or accurate and paragraph [0125], over a specific period, movement can be evaluated by comparing the detected/predicted marker positions at the first and last frames of the sequence).
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.
Claims 6, 7, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kunio in view of Kusu et al. (Pub No.: WO 2019155677).
Consider claim 6, Kunio discloses wherein the processor is further programmed to acquire electrocardiogram data from an electrocardiogram measurement device (paragraph [0094], Fig. 1B, imaging system 20 can be connected to the electrocardiogram (ECG) device 60 for recording the electrical activity of the heart); and
extract the angiographic image at the predetermined time interval from continuous angiographic images representing the target blood vessel continuously imaged by X-ray imaging equipment at intervals shorter than the predetermined time interval (paragraph [0094], Fig. 1B, imaging system 20 can also be connected to the electrocardiogram (ECG) device 60 for recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time wherein the imaging system 20 may also include an image processor 40 for receiving angiography data, intravascular imaging data and data from the ECG device 60).
Kunio does not specifically disclose a flat panel detector (FPD).
Kusu discloses a flat panel detector (FPD) (paragraph [0038], Figs. 1, 2, angiography machine 21 having a flat panel detector (FPD)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the X-ray imaging equipment as disclosed by Kunio with the angiography machine having a flat panel detector (FPD) as taught by Kusu that receives X-rays transmitted through the patient 31 and converts them into image information (Kusu, paragraph [0038]).
Consider claim 7, Kunio discloses wherein the processor is further programmed to acquire three dimensional position information of a true lumen existing in the target blood vessel (paragraph [0027], three-dimensional (3D) rendering);
generate a true lumen image representing the true lumen (paragraph [0027], 3D rendering of blood vessels); and
generate a composite image by compositing the corrected angiographic image and the true lumen image, and output the composite image (paragraph [0021], detect marker positions on the selected angiographic frame using the trained model, and repeatedly checking whether the marker positions are correct or accurate), wherein
the processor acquires an angiographic image which is obtained by imaging the target blood vessel by an X-ray imaging equipment disposed at a freely-selected imaging position and which is the corrected angiographic image for the angiographic image at the predetermined time interval, and generates a true lumen image representing the true lumen at a position and posture corresponding to the corrected angiographic image by using position information of the freely-selected imaging position and three dimensional position information of the true lumen (paragraph [0021], detect marker positions on the selected angiographic frame using the trained model, and repeatedly checking whether the marker positions are correct or accurate and paragraph [0125], over a specific period, movement can be evaluated by comparing the detected/predicted marker positions at the first and last frames of the sequence).
Kunio does not specifically disclose a flat panel detector (FPD).
Kusu discloses a flat panel detector (FPD) (paragraph [0038], Figs. 1, 2, angiography machine 21 having a flat panel detector (FPD)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the X-ray imaging equipment as disclosed by Kunio with the angiography machine having a flat panel detector (FPD) as taught by Kusu that receives X-rays transmitted through the patient 31 and converts them into image information (Kusu, paragraph [0038]).
Consider claims 11-14, Kunio discloses an angiography apparatus (paragraph [0090], Fig. 1B, angiography system 30) comprising:
X-ray imaging equipment; and
a processor (paragraph [0090], angiography image processor 26) programmed to acquire an angiographic image representing a target blood vessel by causing the X-ray imaging equipment to image the target blood vessel into which a medical device is inserted at a predetermined time interval corresponding to a pulsation cycle of a heart, and output the acquired image (paragraph [0094], Fig. 1B, imaging system 20 can also be connected to the electrocardiogram (ECG) device 60 for recording the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time wherein the imaging system 20 may also include an image processor 40 for receiving angiography data, intravascular imaging data and data from the ECG device 60).
Kunio does not specifically disclose a flat panel detector (FPD) having an X-ray tube device and an X-ray flat panel detector.
Kusu discloses a flat panel detector (FPD) having an X-ray tube device and an X-ray flat panel detector (paragraph [0038], Figs. 1, 2, angiography machine 21 has an X-ray tube that generates X-rays and a flat panel detector (FPD)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the X-ray imaging equipment as disclosed by Kunio with the angiography machine an X-ray tube that generates X-rays and a flat panel detector (FPD) as taught by Kusu that receives X-rays transmitted through the patient 31 and converts them into image information (Kusu, paragraph [0038]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 17-21 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claims 17, 20, and 21, the prior art of references fails to disclose the other processor of the angiography apparatus sequentially transmits the angiographic image at the predetermined time interval to the surgery assistance device, the processor of the surgery assistance device sequentially acquires the angiographic image at the predetermined time interval from the angiography apparatus, and the processor of the surgery assistance device sets a latest angiographic image among a plurality of angiographic images acquired as the angiographic image to be corrected.
Regarding claims 18 and 19, the claims are objected to due to dependence on objected claims.
Conclusion
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/Gerald Johnson/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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