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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: the abbreviation/acronym “ODMR” needs to be fully written. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 13 objected to because of the following informalities: on the last line of the claim, remove “crystal”, replace with -- crystals --. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 15 objected to because of the following informalities: on the 1st line of the claim, remove “crystal”, replace with -- crystals --. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: on the first line, remove “ o measure”, replace with -- to measure--.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 10, 13 and 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brenneis et al. (WO 2023156059).
Regarding claim 10, 13 and 15-18, Brenneis teaches a device for determining a magnetic field of interest at a measurement location, comprising:
a first sensor crystal (101) and a second sensor crystal (102) having color centers, wherein the first sensor crystal is arranged at the measurement location, and the second sensor crystal is arranged at a distance from the measurement location;
an excitation light generator (120) configured to generate a pulsed excitation light which irradiates the first sensor crystal and the second sensor crystal;
a field generator (140) configured to generate a magnetic field, wherein the first and the second sensor crystal are arranged in the magnetic field; and
a measuring arrangement (130) configured to detect a fluorescent light emanating from the first and the second sensor crystals;
wherein the device is configured to apply the same magnetic field and the same excitation light to the first and the second sensor crystal (pg. 5, 3rd para.);
wherein the device is configured to directly measure a difference between the magnetic fields at the location of the first sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal;
wherein the device is configured to direct excitation light generated by the excitation light generator equally onto the first and second sensor crystals using a beam splitter (pg. 5, 2nd paragraph) [claim 13];
wherein the first and second sensor crystals having color centers are diamond crystals having nitrogen vacancy centers (pg. 2, para. 6) [claim 15]; and
wherein the device is configured to measure the difference between the magnetic field at the location of the first sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal as the magnetic field of interest [claim 16];
wherein the device is configured to measure a local gradient of the difference between the magnetic fields at the location of the first crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal as the magnetic field of interest (pg. 5, last paragraph to pg. 6, 1st paragraph) [claim 17]; and
wherein the device is configured to measure the magnetic field that is created during contraction of a cardiac muscle (pg. 8, last paragraph) [claim 18].
Claim(s) 10-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sako et al. (US Pub. No. 2026/0211064).
Regarding claims 10-16, Sako teaches a device for determining a magnetic field of interest at a measurement location, comprising:
a first sensor crystal (1) and a second sensor crystal (1R) having color centers, wherein the first sensor crystal is arranged at the measurement location, and the second sensor crystal is arranged at a distance from the measurement location (para. 27);
an excitation light generator (12) configured to generate a pulsed excitation light which irradiates the first sensor crystal and the second sensor crystal;
a field generator (2, 2R) configured to generate a magnetic field, wherein the first and the second sensor crystal are arranged in the magnetic field (para. 35); and
a measuring arrangement (13) configured to detect a fluorescent light emanating from the first and the second sensor crystals;
wherein the device is configured to apply the same magnetic field and the same excitation light to the first and the second sensor crystal (para. 35);
wherein the device is configured to directly measure a difference between the magnetic fields at the location of the first sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal;
wherein the device is configured to measure the difference between the magnetic field at the location of the first sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal using a pulsed ODMR measurement (para. 3) [claim 11];
wherein the device is configured to measure the difference between the magnetic field at the location of the first sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal using a Ramsey measurement (para. 64) [claim 12];
wherein the device is configured to direct excitation light generated by the excitation light generator equally onto the first and second sensor crystals using a beam splitter (para. 55) [claim 13];
wherein the field generator is configured to generate an alternating electrical signal, which is applied to a first coil arrangement and to a second coil arrangement, wherein the first coil arrangement generates a first magnetic field at the location of the first sensor crystal, and the second coil arrangement generates a second magnetic field at the location of the second sensor crystal, wherein a strength and temporal profile of the first and the second magnetic field are identical (para. 35, 38) [claim 14];
wherein the first and second sensor crystals having color centers are diamond crystals having nitrogen vacancy centers (para. 3) [claim 15]; and
wherein the device is configured to measure the difference between the magnetic field at the location of the fist sensor crystal and at the location of the second sensor crystal as the magnetic field of interest (para. 80) [claim 16].
Conclusion
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MINH Q. PHAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2852
/MINH Q PHAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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