CTNF 19/081,012 CTNF 86979 DETAILED ACTION Notice of AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 7-9, 13, and 14 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20 AIA 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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 1-6, 10-12, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over “Towards the Implementation of an Autonomous Camera Algorithm on the da Vinci Platform” by S. Eslamian et al. Medicine Meets VR . 2016 (Eslamian) in view of Tepper (US 2026/0094381, PCT filed 09/22/2023) . Regarding claim 1, 19, and 20, Eslamian discloses a surgical navigation system and method comprising a localizer configured to track a position of an instrument (“kinematic parameters of the instrument arms to calculate the midpoint of the tools”) and the determination, by a controller, that a view on a display, of at least one slice image should no longer be shown on the display based on the movement parameter of the instrument (“keep the view centered on the tools”) . Eslamian does not explicitly disclose that the image space is a volumetric image space defined by x, y, z axes, and that first and second sub-volumes are determined when manipulating the view of the tracked instrument. However, Tepper teaches tracking an instrument with respect to a volumetric image dataset, wherein first and second sub-volumes are considered when accounting for the position of a tracked physical instrument ([0032], [0111], [0114]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply the volumetric image space of Tepper to the surgical instrument tracking of Eslamian, as to provide robust integration of instrument tracking within a volumetric image space. Regarding claim 2, while neither Eslamian nor Tepper explicitly disclose that a first sub-volume is defined within a three-dimensional boundary, it would have been obvious it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply a three-dimensional boundary for the sub-volume because the instrument being tracked lies within a finite boundary of space. Regarding claim 3, while neither Eslamian nor Tepper explicitly disclose that the distances between min and max coordinate values of the boundary are less than the width, depth, and height of the volumetric image, it would have been obvious it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply this condition because the sub -volume is at least contained within the width, depth, and height of the volumetric image space. Regarding claim 4, Eslamian does not explicitly disclose that the controller is further configured to show the view of the at least one slice image which corresponds to the second sub-volume of the volumetric image based on the movement parameter of the instrument and the first set of coordinate bounds. However, Eslamian does teach that the view of the at least one slice image may be changed based upon the movement of the instrument and that this new view could be in a location that is considered a ‘second’ sub-volume of the volumetric image space. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply the view corresponding to a ‘second’ sub-volume, as to provide an updated view of the instrument after it has displaced off-center in the viewed image. Regarding claim 5, Eslamian does not explicitly disclose that the controller is further configured to determine a distance between the position of the instrument and at least one coordinate of the first set of coordinate bounds. However, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply a distance between the position of the instrument to a coordinate boundary, so as to provide an accurate location of its location within the sub-volume, in order to achieve robust tracking of the instrument. Regarding claim 6, Eslamian does not explicitly disclose that the controller is further configured to show the view of the at least one slice image which corresponds to the second sub-volume of the volumetric image based on the movement parameter of the instrument and the distance between the position of the instrument and at least one coordinate of the first set of coordinate bounds. However, Eslamian in conjunction with Tepper does teach showing the view of a tracked instrument in an updated sub-volume of the volumetric image set, within some coordinate boundary of a current sub-volume. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply the second sub-volume view based upon the instrument position and the a current sub-volume boundary, as to provide an accurate account of the instrument’s position in determining whether to re-center the image. Regarding claim 10, Eslamian discloses that the movement parameter includes a displacement of the instrument (“keep the view centered on the tools” implies that the tools may be displaced off-center in the image) . Regarding claims 11 and 12, Eslamian discloses that the movement parameter includes a displacement of the instrument during a first time period (“keep the view centered on the tools”) . Eslamian does not explicitly disclose that the controller is configured to compare the displacement of the instrument during the first time period to a threshold displacement, and, that the controller is further configured to show the view of the at least one slice image which corresponds to the second sub-volume of the volumetric image on the display based on the position of the instrument relative to the first sub- volume of the volumetric image and comparison of the displacement of the instrument during the first time period to the threshold displacement. However, Eslamian does teach that an updated view of the instrument is shown, based upon an instrument’s position (“keep the view centered on the tools” means that the view and thus a sub-volume may be updated) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply the display as taught by Eslamian, as to provide a robust real-time updated view of the instrument as it is centered. Regarding claim 15, Eslamian discloses that the controller is configured to stop showing the view of the at least one slice image which corresponds to the first sub-volume in response to showing the view of the at least one slice image which corresponds to the second sub- volume (“keep the view centered on the tools” implies that the view is updated from one view to the next) . Regarding claim 16-18, Eslamian does not explicitly disclose determining a centroid of the second sub-volume based on the position of the instrument relative to the known coordinate system, the second sub-volume being defined by coordinate boundaries. However, Eslamian teaches calculating the midpoint of tools (“kinematic parameters of the instrument arms to calculate the midpoint of the tools”) and Tepper teaches tracking a tool within a sub-volume of a volumetric data set ([0032], [0111], [0114]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the present invention to apply the determination of a centroid, as to provide robust tracking and centering information. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason Ip whose telephone number is (571) 270-5387. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9a-5p 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, 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. /JASON M IP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3793 Application/Control Number: 19/081,012 Page 2 Art Unit: 3797 Application/Control Number: 19/081,012 Page 3 Art Unit: 3797 Application/Control Number: 19/081,012 Page 4 Art Unit: 3797 Application/Control Number: 19/081,012 Page 5 Art Unit: 3797 Application/Control Number: 19/081,012 Page 6 Art Unit: 3797
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