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 04/30/2026 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 § 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 6 recites the limitation "the fourth depth level" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 10 and 19 recite the limitation "the light source" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 11-15, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. PGPubs 2018/0307019 to Dixon et al.
Regarding claim 1, Dixon et al. teach a computer-implemented method for obtaining a three-dimensional image of a biological specimen (abstract, “The instrument also includes a processor operable to perform MSIA on the image data to generate a 3D image of the specimen”), the method comprising operating a processor to:
capture, using a color or monochrome area sensor array (par 0013, “An image of the specimen is collected by moving the microscope slide using motorized stage 105 in a direction perpendicular to the long dimension of the detector array 210, combining a sequence of equally-spaced, time-integrated line images from the array to construct an image of one strip across the specimen”), a first image of a first frame of the specimen at a first position (par 0024, “acquiring digital strip images (i.e., image strips) across a large microscope specimen or other specimen by capturing sequential overlapping frame images of a moving specimen, typically where a new image frame is captured each time the specimen has moved a distance that causes the image of that specimen projected by the optics onto a two-dimensional detector array to move a distance equal to the distance between a small number of rows of detectors in the detector array (where this number is normally held constant while scanning digital image strips, and is usually equal to 1), image data from the new frame is translated (moved) in computer memory to match the motion of the optical image across the detector array, and is added to (or in some cases may be averaged with) the data previously stored to generate an image of a strip across the specimen”), wherein the first frame comprises a plurality of pixel rows and represents an in-focus region of the specimen at a first depth level (par 0080-0083, “When focused by lens 400, light from tilted object plane 450 in specimen 100 is collected by detector pixels 420 at the image plane. Light from an upper portion of specimen 100 (i.e., the top of specimen 100) at position 421 will be focused on a pixel in the row of pixels at first position 422 on image plane 420, and light from a lower portion of the specimen 100 (i.e., from the bottom of the specimen 100) at position 423 will be focused on a pixel at second position 424 on image plane 420. Each row of pixels in detector 420 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) generally collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100. As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the right, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of a tilted object plane 450 as it moves through the specimen, typically triggering each time the stage has moved the specimen a distance that is equivalent to the distance between pixels in each plane of the final 3D digital image stack”, par 0098-0100, “in this embodiment light from the top of specimen 100 at first position 521 will be focused on a pixel in the row of pixels at first position 522 on image plane 520, and light from the bottom of the specimen at second position 523 will be focused on a pixel at position second 524 on image plane 520. Each row of pixels in detector 410 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100. As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the left, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of the tilted object plane 550 as it moves through the specimen”);
moving the specimen relative to the sensor array in a scanning direction by a predetermined number of pixel rows (par 0024, “acquiring digital strip images (i.e., image strips) across a large microscope specimen or other specimen by capturing sequential overlapping frame images of a moving specimen, typically where a new image frame is captured each time the specimen has moved a distance that causes the image of that specimen projected by the optics onto a two-dimensional detector array to move a distance equal to the distance between a small number of rows of detectors in the detector array (where this number is normally held constant while scanning digital image strips, and is usually equal to 1), image data from the new frame is translated (moved) in computer memory to match the motion of the optical image across the detector array, and is added to (or in some cases may be averaged with) the data previously stored to generate an image of a strip across the specimen. In some cases, such a procedure may be continued until the specimen has moved a distance such that all object points in that strip have been exposed a number of times equal to the number of active rows in the detector array (usually chosen by defining a “detector area of interest” or “detector active area” that has the width of the detector but a smaller number of rows than the detector array contains) divided by the smaller number of rows moved between each successive image capture”, Fig 4, par 0083, “Each row of pixels in detector 420 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) generally collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100. As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the right, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of a tilted object plane 450 as it moves through the specimen, typically triggering each time the stage has moved the specimen a distance that is equivalent to the distance between pixels in each plane of the final 3D digital image stack”, par 0100, “As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the left, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of the tilted object plane 550 as it moves through the specimen”);
capturing a second image of a second frame of the specimen using the sensor array at a second position, wherein the second frame comprises the plurality of pixel rows and represents an in-focus region of the specimen at a second depth level, the second depth level being spaced apart from the first depth level in a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction (par 0013, “An image of the specimen is collected by moving the microscope slide using motorized stage 105 in a direction perpendicular to the long dimension of the detector array 210, combining a sequence of equally-spaced, time-integrated line images from the array to construct an image of one strip across the specimen”, par 0024, “acquiring digital strip images (i.e., image strips) across a large microscope specimen or other specimen by capturing sequential overlapping frame images of a moving specimen, typically where a new image frame is captured each time the specimen has moved a distance that causes the image of that specimen projected by the optics onto a two-dimensional detector array to move a distance equal to the distance between a small number of rows of detectors in the detector array (where this number is normally held constant while scanning digital image strips, and is usually equal to 1), image data from the new frame is translated (moved) in computer memory to match the motion of the optical image across the detector array, and is added to (or in some cases may be averaged with) the data previously stored to generate an image of a strip across the specimen”, Fig 4, par 0080-0083, “Camera 410 (containing two-dimensional detector array 420 positioned at the image plane) is tilted (normally with respect to the plane of the microscope slide about an axis that is parallel to the plane of the microscope slide and is perpendicular to the direction of stage motion), and is normally parallel to the rows of pixels across the array (or two-dimensional array 420 is tilted inside camera 410, which is not tilted). When focused by lens 400, light from tilted object plane 450 in specimen 100 is collected by detector pixels 420 at the image plane. Light from an upper portion of specimen 100 (i.e., the top of specimen 100) at position 421 will be focused on a pixel in the row of pixels at first position 422 on image plane 420, and light from a lower portion of the specimen 100 (i.e., from the bottom of the specimen 100) at position 423 will be focused on a pixel at second position 424 on image plane 420. Each row of pixels in detector 420 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) generally collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100. As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the right, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of a tilted object plane 450 as it moves through the specimen, typically triggering each time the stage has moved the specimen a distance that is equivalent to the distance between pixels in each plane of the final 3D digital image stack”, par 0098-0100, “in this embodiment light from the top of specimen 100 at first position 521 will be focused on a pixel in the row of pixels at first position 522 on image plane 520, and light from the bottom of the specimen at second position 523 will be focused on a pixel at position second 524 on image plane 520. Each row of pixels in detector 410 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100. As stage 105 moves microscope slide 101 to the left, the array detector 410 is triggered to collect a series of image frames of the tilted object plane 550 as it moves through the specimen”); and
processing the first image and the second image to generate a three-dimensional image of the specimen (par 0042, “provide a microscope slide scanner and method for acquiring a stack of image planes using a two-dimensional detector array tilted in the scan direction (or in another direction) and MSIA imaging such that each active area of rows in the array images a different plane in the specimen, resulting in a three-dimensional image comprised of a stack of image planes, and software that enables the user to change the focus plane being viewed by moving up and down in the image stack”, par 0045, “calculation for each different plane in the 3D image of the specimen, resulting in a three-dimensional image that includes a stack of image planes” par 0100, “These image frames are stored in a computer 471, and MSIA image averaging of data from each active area of the detector array is used to assemble a digital 3D stack of image planes. The final result is an MSIA three-dimensional image of the specimen comprised of a stack of two-dimensional image planes, one image plane for each active area in the detector array”).
Regarding claim 2, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein the specimen is moved at a constant velocity relative to the color or monochrome area sensor array in the scanning direction (par 0088, “a 3D image of the entire specimen is typically collected by moving the microscope slide at constant speed using motorized stage 105 in a direction perpendicular to the tilt axis of detector array 410, resulting in collection of a digital 3D image stack of one strip of the specimen“, Fig 4, par 0117, “The microscope objective 115 and tube lens 125 form a real image of the specimen on tilted two-dimensional detector array 420. A 3D image of the specimen is collected by moving the microscope slide at constant speed using motorized stage 105 in a direction perpendicular to the tilt axis of detector array 410”)
Regarding claim 3, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach further comprising: moving the specimen relative to the sensor array by the predetermined number of pixel rows; capturing a third image of a third frame at a third position, wherein the third frame comprises the plurality of pixel rows and represents an in-focus region at a third depth level, the third depth level being spaced apart from both the first and second depth levels in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction; and processing the first, second, and third images to generate the three-dimensional image (par 0024, par 0042, par 0045, Fig 4, par 0080-0083, par 0098-0100, “provide a microscope slide scanner and method for acquiring a stack of image planes using a two-dimensional detector array tilted in the scan direction (or in another direction) and MSIA imaging such that each active area of rows in the array images a different plane in the specimen, resulting in a three-dimensional image comprised of a stack of image planes, and software that enables the user to change the focus plane being viewed by moving up and down in the image stack” … a stack of image planes with different depth level is used to generated a 3D image).
Regarding claim 4, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein the capture of the first image and the second image occurs after a first time interval, and the capture of the second image and the third image occurs after a second time interval, wherein the first and second time intervals are of equal duration (Dixon et al. disclose capture image processes in different depths (par 0024) and this is a design choice by user to determine when to start capture images or how long to wait to capture images).
Regarding claim 5, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 3, and further teach further comprising: capturing a fourth image of a fourth frame at a fourth position, wherein the fourth frame comprises the plurality of pixel rows and represents an in-focus region at a fourth depth level, the fourth depth level being spaced apart from the first, second, and third depth levels in the perpendicular direction to the scan direction; and processing the first, second, third, and fourth images to generate the three-dimensional image (par 0024, par 0042, par 0045, Fig 4, par 0080-0083, par 0098-0100, “provide a microscope slide scanner and method for acquiring a stack of image planes using a two-dimensional detector array tilted in the scan direction (or in another direction) and MSIA imaging such that each active area of rows in the array images a different plane in the specimen, resulting in a three-dimensional image comprised of a stack of image planes, and software that enables the user to change the focus plane being viewed by moving up and down in the image stack” … a stack of image planes with different depth level is used to generated a 3D image).
Regarding claim 6, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 3, and further teach wherein the fourth depth level is between the first and second depth levels in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction (par 0080-0083, “Each row of pixels in detector 420 (rows pointing into the paper in this figure) generally collects data from a different depth inside specimen 100” ….allow user to select different depth to scan as first, second, third, fourth).
Regarding claim 11, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, and further teach wherein processing the images to generate the three-dimensional image includes applying Moving Specimen Image Averaging (MSIA) (par 0024, par 0043, par 0078-0080, par 0100, “These image frames are stored in a computer 471, and MSIA image averaging of data from each active area of the detector array is used to assemble a digital 3D stack of image planes. The final result is an MSIA three-dimensional image of the specimen comprised of a stack of two-dimensional image planes, one image plane for each active area in the detector array”).
Regarding claim 12, Dixon et al. teach an instrument for obtaining a three-dimensional image of a biological specimen (abstract). The remaining limitations of the claim are similar in scope to claim 1 and rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claims 13-15 and 20, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 12, the claims 13-15 and 20 are similar in scope to claims 2-4 and 11 and are rejected under the same rational.
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) 7-10 and 16-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. PGPubs 2018/0307019 to Dixon et al. in view of U.S. PGPubs 2020/0026051 to Dixon et al.(2020).
Regarding claim 7, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 3, and further teach but keep silent for teaching wherein capturing the first image includes: illuminating the specimen using a light source; triggering the camera; and opening a shutter of the camera to expose the sensor to light, wherein the light source remains on for a duration of the scan.
In related endeavor, Dixon et al.(2020) teach wherein capturing the first image includes: illuminating the specimen using a light source; triggering the camera; and opening a shutter of the camera to expose the sensor to light, wherein the light source remains on for a duration of the scan (Fig 4b, par 0072-0073, “FIG. 4b shows a timing diagram for controlling the shutter in the camera 305 in FIG. 3 (for example) when simple monochrome tiling like that shown in FIG. 4a is done. Light source 350 in FIG. 3 is turned on to illuminate the specimen continuously with a single color during scanning (for this example, the light source illuminates the specimen with red light). The control signals to accomplish this are shown at the bottom of FIG. 4b. At the same time, the shutter in camera 305 is actuated, for example by the falling edge of the camera trigger signal at the top of FIG. 4b, with the shutter held open for a short period of time controlled by the Exposure Time control signal below the Camera Trigger control signal in the diagram”, Fig 5b, par 0081-0082, “The single pass scheme shown in FIG. 5a (pulsed RGB illumination light with a monochrome camera) provides the same scan speed as a color camera (e.g. a monochrome sensor covered with a Bayer filter) using white illumination light (not shown). …. FIG. 5b shows the camera trigger pulses, the exposure time and the illumination on-time for each of the three illumination colors to generate overlapping single-color image frames in a single scan. As before, the camera shutter is triggered on the falling edge of the camera trigger signal, a maximum exposure time is typically less than or equal to the time for the specimen to move a distance such that the image of the specimen projected onto the detector array moves a distance equal to 1/10 of the distance between adjacent pixel positions on the array. In this example, the light source is on for the entire time that the camera shutter is open. However, it is also possible to leave the shutter open for a longer time and to use the illumination time to set the exposure time”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Dixon et al. to include wherein capturing the first image includes: illuminating the specimen using a light source; triggering the camera; and opening a shutter of the camera to expose the sensor to light, wherein the light source remains on for a duration of the scan as taught by Dixon et al.(2020) to disclose a method to changing illumination intensity and/or scan speed with varied exposure time to increase both sensitivity and imaging speed through using TDI (Time Delay and Integration) technology.
Regarding claim 8, Dixon et al. as modified by Dixon et al.(2020) teach all the limitation of claim 7, and Dixon et al.(2020) further teach wherein the illumination is pulsed, and the pulse width is greater than the exposure time of the camera (Fig 4b, par 0072-0073, “FIG. 4b shows a timing diagram for controlling the shutter in the camera 305 in FIG. 3 (for example) when simple monochrome tiling like that shown in FIG. 4a is done. Light source 350 in FIG. 3 is turned on to illuminate the specimen continuously with a single color during scanning (for this example, the light source illuminates the specimen with red light). The control signals to accomplish this are shown at the bottom of FIG. 4b. At the same time, the shutter in camera 305 is actuated, for example by the falling edge of the camera trigger signal at the top of FIG. 4b, with the shutter held open for a short period of time controlled by the Exposure Time control signal below the Camera Trigger control signal in the diagram”, Fig 5b, par 0081-0082, “The single pass scheme shown in FIG. 5a (pulsed RGB illumination light with a monochrome camera) provides the same scan speed as a color camera (e.g. a monochrome sensor covered with a Bayer filter) using white illumination light (not shown). …. FIG. 5b shows the camera trigger pulses, the exposure time and the illumination on-time for each of the three illumination colors to generate overlapping single-color image frames in a single scan. As before, the camera shutter is triggered on the falling edge of the camera trigger signal, a maximum exposure time is typically less than or equal to the time for the specimen to move a distance such that the image of the specimen projected onto the detector array moves a distance equal to 1/10 of the distance between adjacent pixel positions on the array. In this example, the light source is on for the entire time that the camera shutter is open. However, it is also possible to leave the shutter open for a longer time and to use the illumination time to set the exposure time”).
Regarding claim 9, Dixon et al. as modified by Dixon et al.(2020) teach all the limitation of claim 7, and Dixon et al.(2020) teach wherein the illumination is pulsed, and the pulse width is less than the exposure time of the camera (Fig 5b, par 0081-0082, “The single pass scheme shown in FIG. 5a (pulsed RGB illumination light with a monochrome camera) provides the same scan speed as a color camera (e.g. a monochrome sensor covered with a Bayer filter) using white illumination light (not shown). …. FIG. 5b shows the camera trigger pulses, the exposure time and the illumination on-time for each of the three illumination colors to generate overlapping single-color image frames in a single scan. As before, the camera shutter is triggered on the falling edge of the camera trigger signal, a maximum exposure time is typically less than or equal to the time for the specimen to move a distance such that the image of the specimen projected onto the detector array moves a distance equal to 1/10 of the distance between adjacent pixel positions on the array. In this example, the light source is on for the entire time that the camera shutter is open. However, it is also possible to leave the shutter open for a longer time and to use the illumination time to set the exposure time”, Fig 10, par 0103-0105, “when the third camera trigger signal in line 1 triggers the shutter to open, the illumination time has been set for a shorter time than the time the shutter is open, so in this case the effective exposure time (line 4) has been determined by the illumination time, not the time the shutter was open”).
Regarding claim 10, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 1, but keep silent for teaching wherein the light source comprises a color (RGB) light source.
In related endeavor, Dixon et al.(2020) teach wherein the light source comprises a color (RGB) light source (Fig 4b, par 0071-0072, “Light source 350 in FIG. 3 is turned on to illuminate the specimen continuously with a single color during scanning (for this example, the light source illuminates the specimen with red light). The control signals to accomplish this are shown at the bottom of FIG. 4b”, par 0106, “which can be illustrated using the scanning microscope shown in FIG. 3, the light source 350 is controlled to produce four different colors, each frame image acquired in the strip image is comprised of eight lines of data”).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modified Dixon et al. to include wherein the light source comprises a color (RGB) light source as taught by Dixon et al.(2020) to disclose a method to changing illumination intensity and/or scan speed with varied exposure time to increase both sensitivity and imaging speed through using TDI (Time Delay and Integration) technology.
Regarding claims 16-19, Dixon et al. teach all the limitation of claim 12, the claims 16-19 are similar in scope to claims 7-10 and are rejected under the same rational.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jin Ge whose telephone number is (571)272-5556. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 to 5:00.
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JIN . GE
Examiner
Art Unit 2619
/JIN GE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2619
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