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 .
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fukuma et al. ( US patent publication: US 20200390330, “Fukuma”) in view of Shimada et al. ( WO 2016143375 A1, “Simada”).
Regarding claim 1, Fukuma teaches, An ophthalmic system (Fig. 1) comprising:
a server(Fig.1 element 4000) including a memory storing a result of an examination or an image diagnosis related to an eyeball of a subject; (“[0055] The management server 4000 has the following functions, for example: the function of relaying communication between the ophthalmic imaging apparatus 2000-i.sub.n and the remote terminal 5000m; the function of recording the contents of the communication; the function of storing data and information acquired by the ophthalmic imaging apparatus 2000-i.sub.n; and the function of storing data and information acquired by the remote terminal 5000m.”) and
a terminal device (Remote Terminal 5000n) connected to the server, the terminal device including:
a display (Fig. 6 6000m) displaying the result of the examination or the image diagnosis; (“[0056] The remote terminal 5000m includes a computer that can be used for interpretation of images of acquired from a subject's eye by the ophthalmic imaging apparatus 2000-i.sub.n and for creation of a report.”) and
a display controller (Fig. 6 element 5011) configured to control a display content and a display mode, (“[0170] The controller 5010 includes the display controller 5011. The display controller 5011 controls the display device 6000m. The display device 6000m may be included in the remote terminal 5000m or may be a peripheral device connected to the remote terminal 5000m. The display controller 5011 controls the display device 6000m to display an image of the anterior segment of the subject's eye E. Examples of the image of the anterior segment include a rendered image of a three dimensional image, a front image, an OCT image, an image representing an analysis result, and a slit image.”)
wherein the memory stores the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in association with device information including a manufacturer or a model name of an ophthalmic device used at that time, (“0208] Referring to FIG. 9A, first, subject information is input to slit lamp microscope 1 (or to the terminal 3000-n). The subject information inputted is stored in the memory 102. In the case where communication between the slit lamp microscope 1 (and/or the terminal 3000-n) and the management server 4000 has already been established, the subject information inputted may be transmitted to the management server 4000 at this stage. The subject information includes, for example, a subject identifier (subject ID) and background information. The management server 4000 can select one from among the remote terminals 5000m (the step S13 in FIG. 9B) at an arbitrary timing after reception of the subject information.
[0209] The subject ID includes, for example, an identifier in a medical facility (a patient identifier), an identifier for a medical check, an identifier for a medical examination, or the like. These are examples only, and the kinds of the subject IDs are not limited to these exemplary IDs.”)
Fukuma teaches, wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis (shown as above ) but doesn’t teach so in a time-series graph, and wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller sets the display mode of the graph to a first change mode different from a normal mode without the change.
However, Shimada teaches, wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in a time-series graph, and wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller sets the display mode of the graph to a first change mode different from a normal mode without the change. (“ The control unit 26 identifies measurement results of the same user, the same attribute type, and different device IDs from the information DB 25, and generates time-series change data for each device ID based on the measurement value and measurement date / time in the identified measurement result. The time series change data is output.
When the server device 3 outputs the time-series change data for each device ID, the server device 3 outputs the time-series change data to the predetermined destination terminal device 4 via the Internet 5. Based on the time-series change data received from the server device 3, the terminal device 4 displays time-series change graphs 41A and 41B for each device ID on the display unit 33 as shown in FIG 7. 41A straight line in normal mode and 41B in dotted line in changed mode, 41A is based on a device ID or manufacturer/model , 41B is based on a different device ID or manufacturer/model.)
Shimada and Fukuma are analogous as they are from the field of displaying ophthalmic devices output.
Therefore it would have ben obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Fukuma to have included the display to display the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in a time-series graph, and wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller to set the display mode of the graph to a first change mode different from a normal mode without the change as taught by Shimada.
The motivation to include the modification is to enhance the display of ophthalmic device.
Regarding claim 5, Fukuma teaches A terminal device (Fig. 1 Remote Terminal 5000n) comprising:
a display displaying a result of an examination or an image diagnosis related to an eyeball of a subject; (“[0056] The remote terminal 5000m includes a computer that can be used for interpretation of images of acquired from a subject's eye by the ophthalmic imaging apparatus 2000-i.sub.n and for creation of a report.”)
a display controller configured to control a display content and a display mode; (“[0056] The remote terminal 5000m includes a computer that can be used for interpretation of images of acquired from a subject's eye by the ophthalmic imaging apparatus 2000-i.sub.n and for creation of a report.”)and
a terminal memory configured to store the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in association with device information including a manufacturer or a model name of an ophthalmic device used at that time, (“0208] Referring to FIG. 9A, first, subject information is input to slit lamp microscope 1 (or to the terminal 3000-n). The subject information inputted is stored in the memory 102. In the case where communication between the slit lamp microscope 1 (and/or the terminal 3000-n) and the management server 4000 has already been established, the subject information inputted may be transmitted to the management server 4000 at this stage. The subject information includes, for example, a subject identifier (subject ID) and background information. The management server 4000 can select one from among the remote terminals 5000m (the step S13 in FIG. 9B) at an arbitrary timing after reception of the subject information.
[0209] The subject ID includes, for example, an identifier in a medical facility (a patient identifier), an identifier for a medical check, an identifier for a medical examination, or the like. These are examples only, and the kinds of the subject IDs are not limited to these exemplary IDs.”)
Fukuma teaches, wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis (shown as above ) but doesn’t’ teach so in a time-series graph, and wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller sets the display mode of the graph to a first change mode different from a normal mode without the change.
However, Shimada teaches, wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in a time-series graph, and wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in a time-series graph, and
wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that 20 in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller changes the display mode of the graph.. (“ The control unit 26 identifies measurement results of the same user, the same attribute type, and different device IDs from the information DB 25, and generates time-series change data for each device ID based on the measurement value and measurement date / time in the identified measurement result. The time series change data is output.
When the server device 3 outputs the time-series change data for each device ID, the server device 3 outputs the time-series change data to the predetermined destination terminal device 4 via the Internet 5. Based on the time-series change data received from the server device 3, the terminal device 4 displays time-series change graphs 41A and 41B for each device ID on the display unit 33 as shown in FIG 7. 41A straight line in normal mode and 41B in dotted line in changed mode, 41A is based on a device ID or manufacturer/model , 41B is based on a different device ID or manufacturer/model.)
Shimada and Fukuma are analogous as they are from the field of displaying ophthalmic devices output.
Therefore it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled person in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Fukuma to have included the display to wherein the display displays the result of the examination or the image diagnosis in a time-series graph, and wherein in a case where a change in the manufacturer or the model name from that in a previous examination is detected based on the device information, the display controller changes the display mode of the graph.as taught by Shimada.
The motivation to include the modification is to enhance the display of ophthalmic device.
Claims 2-4 and 6 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.
Claims 2 and 6 are objected because the combination of the best available prior art fails to expressly teach, wherein the memory stores a comparison table related to a numerical tendency for each examination item of each of the manufacturers, and
wherein the display controller causes a window including at least the comparison table to appear when any examination time in the graph is designated.
Claim 3 is objected based on dependency.
Claim 4 is objected because the combination of the best available prior art fails to expressly teach,: a machine learning model connected to the server and configured to be subjected to machine learning such that many results of the examination or the image diagnosis for each
examination item are received as training data, and a predicted value for a corresponding one of the examination items is output,
wherein the server includes a calculator configured to refer to the machine learning model to calculate the predicted value of a predetermined one of the examination items based on the result of the examination or the image diagnosis of the subject, and
wherein the display controller sets the display mode of the graph to a second change mode different from the normal mode and the first change mode when displaying the predicted value of the predetermined examination item.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yoshihiko (WO 2020036182) provides an ophthalmic imaging apparatus and a server and displays front image.
Aimi ( US patent publication: US 20180360308) discloses ophthalmic apparatus generates eye image, and displays eye image.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tapas Mazumder whose telephone number is (571)270-7466. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM-5:00 PM PST.
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, Alicia Harrington can be reached at 571-272-2330. 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.
/TAPAS MAZUMDER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2615
Prosecution Insights