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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group 1 (i.e. claims 1-27) in the reply filed on 06/01/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 28-50 are withdrawn from consideration.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/16/2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description:
FIG. 18: Although the specification states “[…] and control processing hardware 200 (e.g. a controller, computer, or other computing system)” [0180], this figure does not include the label 200. Rather it includes the label 400 to show the control and processing hardware.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
[0006]: As written it reads “In some example implementations of the system, In some example implementations of the system, the control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, he coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is determined rages on a relative geometrical location of the subarray within the array of ultrasound transducer elements”. However, to correct the typo, the first instance of the phrase “In some example implementations of the system”.
[0085]: As written it reads “FIG. 13 shows a 2D array, along with a potential 3D volume FOV based on multiple transmit-receive vectors”. However, this is the first instance of the term “FOV”, therefore the term should be spelled out to provide clarity.
[0086]: As written it reads “FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C show PSF results based on the imaging scheme illustrated in FIG. 13”. However, this is the first instance of the term, therefore, the term should be spelled out to provide clarity.
[0138]: As written it reads “This configuration minimizes the variation in SNR between the synthetic apertures within the cluster”. However, this is the first instance of the term “SNR”, therefore the term should be spelled out to provide clarity.
[0181]: As written it reads “As shown in FIG. 18, in one embodiment, control and processing hardware 300 may include a processor 410, a memory 420 […]”. However, the examiner believes that the label 300 is a typo because in FIG. 18, the label 400 is used to denote the control and processing hardware.
[0186]: As written it reads “[…] instructions contained in a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or a remote storage device”. However, this is the first indication of the terms “ROM” and “RAM”, therefore the terms should be spelled out to provide clarity.
[0190]: As written it reads “As the embodiments described herein do not require orthogonality to obtain the entire volume, any unique 2D plane is available to the operator with the same frame rate, unlike PZT row-column, conventional row-column, quad row-column implementations”. However, this is the first instance of the term “PZT” therefore, the term should be spelled out to provide clarity.
[0206]: As written it reads “However, unlike traditional THI where the filtering typically occurs on the received beamformed signal, FTHI filtering starts at the receive aperture where the Fresnel pattern is determined by the harmonic frequency in addition to filtering on the received beamformed signal”. However, this is the first instance of the terms “THI” and “FTHI” therefore, the terms should be spelled out to provide clarity.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 13, 14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, as written it reads “an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto”. However, to avoid potential antecedent basis issues, the examiner would recommend amending the limitation to read “each ultrasound transducer element”.
Regarding claim 13, as written it reads “wherein at least on subarray is sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range”. However to correct the typo “on subarray” should be “one subarray”.
Regarding claim 14, as written it reads “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the transmit phase aperture associated with a real focus, such that the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation synthetically focus ultrasound energy at the real focus”. However, to be grammatically correct, the examiner believes “is” should be added between “aperture” and “associated” (underlined above).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 2, 8, 13, and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 2 and 8, as written it reads “the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays“; “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the coarse transmit subaperture delay is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays, within the subaperture of the subarray, that would be needed to generate the transmit phase aperture according to a single transmit operation” (Claim 8). However, it is unclear what “statistical measure” is generated for use in generating the transmit phase aperture and what “processing” is performed on a set of per-element time delays to achieve the generation of this statistical measure. The examiner recommends clarifying that processing is performed on this set of per-element time delays and what statistical measure is generated as a result of this processing.
Regarding claim 13, as written it reads “wherein at least on subarray is sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range”. However, it is unclear what size the subarray must have in order to be considered “sufficiently small” or what the “pre-selected steering range” is referring to within this claim. The examiner recommends clarifying these features.
Regarding claim 14, as written it reads “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the transmit phase aperture associated with a real focus, such that the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation synthetically focus ultrasound energy at the real focus”. However, it is unclear what the scope of the term “real focus” is within the context of the system. The examiner recommends clarifying what the term “real focus” means and/or noting where support for this definition can be found in the Applicant’s disclosure. For the sake of examination, the examiner will be interpreting this term to mean a focus location associated with a specific depth/position within a subject.
Regarding claims 15-16, due to their dependence on claim 14, these claims are subject to the reasoning provided therein. Furthermore, these claims do not provide further clarification regarding the term “real focus”. Thus, these claims inherit the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) for the reasons stated in claim 14 above.
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.
(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) 1-4, 6, 9-10, 14-19, 21-25 and 27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhao et al. US 2018/0372691 A1 “Zhao”.
Regarding claim 1, Zhao teaches “A system for performing ultrasound imaging, the system comprising:” (“FIG. 1 illustrates an example configuration of an ultrasound system 100 including CMUT array according to some implementations. In this example, the system 100 includes a CMUT array 102. In some cases, the CMUT array 102 may be a 1.5D CMUT array having a plurality of CMUT elements 104 in more than two rows in the elevation dimension, as discussed additionally below. The system 100 further includes an imaging system 106 and a multiplexer 108 in communication with the CMUT array 102. In some examples, the system 100 may include, or may be included in, an ultrasound probe for performing ultrasound imaging” [0027]. Therefore, the ultrasound system 100 shown in FIG. 1 represents a system for performing ultrasound imaging.);
“an array of ultrasound transducer elements, each ultrasound element being capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias” (See CMUT elements 104 in [0027] and FIG. 1 and “As one example, the imaging system 106 may have a first beamformer 110 for transmit and a separate second beamformer 110 for receive. The transmit beamformer may impart a different time delay to the electric pulse of each channel. […] The beamformer(s) 110 may include multiple transmit and/or receive (TX/RX) channels 112. As one example, the imaging system 106 may include 128 transmit and receive channels 112 that communicate with the multiplexer 108. In some instances, the multiplexer 108 may include a large number of switches 113, which may be high voltage analog switches in some cases. Further, a bias voltage supply 114 may generate multiple levels of bias voltages for individual groups of CMUT elements, as indicated at 116” [0028]; “For example, the imaging system 106 may communicate directly with the multiplexer 108, such as for controlling the plurality of switches 113 therein, as indicated at 126, and may communicate with the bias voltage supply 114, as indicated at 128, such as for controlling the bias voltage supplied to the CMUT array 102” [0030]. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes an array of ultrasound transducer elements (i.e. CMUT array 102 with CMUT elements 104). Since the transmit beamformer (i.e. 110) imparts a different time delay to the electric pulse of each channel (i.e. connected to the CMUT elements 104) and a bias voltage supply generates multiple levels of vias voltages for individual groups of CMUT elements 104, each ultrasound element is capable of acoustic transduction when a bias is applied thereto, such that a phase of ultrasound waves emitted therefrom is dependent on a polarity of the bias.);
“a set of bias conductive paths, each bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of an ultrasound element, thereby enabling each ultrasound element to be individually biased” (See [0028] above, “Referring back to FIG. 2A, the elements 104 are arranged in three rows 202(1)-202(3). […] As one example, one of the electrodes 214 or 216 of the elements 104 may be electrically connected to the electrodes 214 or 216, respectively, of other elements in the same column 204, while the other one of the electrodes 214 or 216 may be connected to other elements in the same row 202. For instance, as indicated at 230, the first electrodes 214 or the second electrodes 216 from one element 104 in the same column 204(3) in each of the three rows 202(1)-202(3) may be electrically connected so that the three elements in the column 204(3) are electrically connected. A transmission signal may be delivered concurrently through the three electrically connected elements 104 in the same column 204(3).” [0037]. Therefore, since the electrodes in the same column (i.e. 204(3)) receive a transmission signal concurrently and the bias voltage supply generates multiple levels of bias voltages for individual groups of CMUT elements (i.e. CMUTs 104 in column 204(3), see FIG. 2A), the system includes a set of bias conductive paths, each bias conductive path being in electrical communication with a respective bias electrode of an ultrasound element i.e. group of CMUTs 104 indicated by columns 204(1)-204(N), respectively), thereby enabling each ultrasound element (i.e. group of CMUTs 104 indicated by columns 204(1)-204(N), respectively), to be individually biased.);
“a set of signal conductive paths, each signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective subarray of ultrasound elements, thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each ultrasound element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements” (See beamformers 110 as discussed in [0028] and [0037] above. Since the beamformers 110 may include multiple transmit and or receive channels 112 which communicate with the multiplexer 108 and consequently the CMUT elements 104 (see FIG. 1), the system includes a set of signal conductive paths, each signal conductive path being configured to deliver a respective signal to a respective subarray of ultrasound elements (i.e. group of CMUTs 104 indicated by columns 204(1)-204(N), respectively, see [0037]), thereby enabling the respective signal to be applied to each ultrasound element of the respective subarray of ultrasound elements (i.e. each column 204(1)-201(N)).); and
“control and processing circuitry operatively coupled to said set of signal conductive paths and said set of bias conductive paths, said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor and associated memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processor to perform operations for controlling synthetic transmission of ultrasound energy from said array of ultrasound transducer elements according to a transmit phase aperture, the operations comprising:” (See imaging system 106 in FIG. 1 and “The imaging system 106 may include one or more processors 118, one or more computer-readable media 120, and a display 122. For example, the processor(s) 118 may be implemented as one or more physical microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, logic circuits, and/or other devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. The computer-readable medium 120 may be a tangible non-transitory computer storage medium and may include volatile and nonvolatile memory, computer storage devices, and/or removable and non-removable media implemented in any type of technology for storage of information such as signals received from the CMUT array 102 and/or processor-executable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data” [0029]; “The set of CMUT elements that are excited by electric signals to create the acoustic beam is referred to herein as an aperture. The entire array or a subset of the CMUT elements may be used as the aperture for a single beam. In a technique referred to herein as “synthetic aperture”, the aperture can be further subdivided into smaller subsets and each smaller subset may be used to create a partial beam. The received signals from the partial beams may then be used to recreate the full beam by recombining the received signal with appropriate delays and weightings” [0018]; “Alternatively, in the case where there are not enough channels for every element 104, a group of elements can share one TX/RX channel through the use of switches and channel multiplexing. The data for each TX/RX channel can then be derived from multiple transmit/receive activations also referred to as “firings” of the array or a portion of the array, such as where only a single element from the aperture participates in a particular firing. This technique may be referred to as synthetic aperture beamforming and involves combining the signals from separate firing events. In electrostatic transducers where the bias determines the sensitivity of the transducer, the opportunity arises to select and deselect the active element within an aperture by turning the bias on and off” [0040].
As shown in FIG. 1, the imaging system 106 includes processors 118 and computer-readable media 120 (i.e. memory). Since a subset of CMUT elements may be used as the aperture to perform synthetic aperture beamforming, the memory had to have instructed the processors 118 to perform operations for controlling synthetic transmission of ultrasound energy from said array of ultrasound transducer elements (i.e. 104) according to a transmit phase aperture. Therefore, the system includes control and processing circuitry (i.e. within imaging system 106) operatively coupled to said set of signal conductive paths (i.e. TX/RX channels 112) and said set of bias conductive paths (i.e. bias voltage supply 114 connected to the CMUT array via 116), said control and processing circuitry comprising at least one processor (i.e. 118) and associated memory (i.e. 120), said memory comprising instructions executable by said processor to perform operations for controlling synthetic transmission of ultrasound energy (see [0018], [0040]) from said array of ultrasound transducer elements according to a transmit phase aperture.);
“performing a first transmit operation comprising:
while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said set of signal conductive paths, each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the transmit phase aperture” (“FIG. 5A illustrates a first firing bias voltage condition 502 with a transmit portion 504 and a receive portion 506. The first firing 502 includes transmitting 504 and receiving 506 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a higher bias voltage than a lower bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during both transmitting and receiving ultrasonic energy” [0052]. Therefore, FIG. 5A illustrates a first transmit operation which comprises, while applying a first transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths (i.e. via 116, see FIG. 1), delivering a first set of time-delayed transmit signals to said set of signal conductive paths (i.e. via the TX/RX channels 112, see FIG. 1), each transmit signal of the first set of time-delayed transmit signals (see [0028]) being delivered to a respective subarray with a respective coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the transmit phase aperture (see [0018], [0040]);
“performing a second transmit operation comprising:
while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths, delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals to said signal conductive paths, the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals” (“FIG. 5C illustrates a third firing bias voltage condition 522 with a transmit portion 524 and a receive portion 526. The third firing 522 includes transmitting 524 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a lower bias voltage than a higher bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 524. During receiving 526, the third firing includes receiving 526 with the center row 202(2) under the lower bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the higher bias voltage.” [0054]. As shown in FIG. 5A, edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) are operated at a higher bias voltage than the center row 202(2). Conversely, in FIG. 5C, the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) are operated at a lower bias voltage than the center row 202(2). Thus, the transmit sequences shown in FIGS. 5A and 5C are generated in quadrature relative to each other. Therefore, bias voltage condition 522, shown in FIG. 5C represents a second transmit operation comprising; while applying a second transmit bias aperture to said bias conductive paths (i.e. 116, see FIG. 1), delivering a second set of time-delayed transmit signals (see [0028]) to said signal conductive paths (i.e. via the TX/RX channels 112, see FIG. 1), the second set of time-delayed transmit signals being generated in quadrature relative to the first set of time-delayed transmit signals.);
“wherein the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture are configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are performed, a fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture is synthetically generated for each transducer element, such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-element fine phase delays synthetically generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture” (See [0018], [0040], [0052], [0054] as discussed above. Therefore, the first transmit bias aperture (i.e. see 502 in FIG. 5A) and the second transmit bias aperture (i.e. 522 in FIG. 5C) are configured such that when the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation are performed, a fine phase delay associated with the transmit phase aperture is synthetically generated for each transducer element (i.e. 104), such that a combination of the per-subarray coarse transmit subarray delays and the per-element fine phase delays synthetically generate or approximate the transmit phase aperture.).
Regarding claim 2, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays, within the subarray that would be needed to generate the transmit phase aperture according to a single transmit operation” (See [0040] as discussed in claim 1 above. Therefore, since synthetic aperture beamforming is used to combine the signals from separate firing events in which only a single element from the aperture participates in a particular firing into a single firing event, the control and processing circuitry must have been further configured such that for at least one subarray (i.e. column 204(1)-204(N) or row 202(1)-202(3)), the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays, within the subarray that would be needed to generate the transmit phase aperture according to a single transmit operation.).
Regarding claim 3, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is determined based on a relative geometrical location of the subarray within the array of ultrasound transducer elements” (“In this more general case, the lower and higher bias voltage levels may be different for each CMUT element depending on, among other factors, the size and geometry of the CMUT element” [0069]. Therefore, since the lower and higher bias voltage levels are different for each CMUT element depending on the size and geometry of the CMUT element, said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is determined based on a relative geometrical location of the subarray within the array of ultrasound transducer elements (i.e. 104).).
Regarding claim 4, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture are generated according to a discrete set of bias levels, the discrete set of bias levels comprising at least three distinct bias levels” (See [0028] as discussed in claim 1 above, and “As another example, there may be more than two different bias voltage levels applied to the different rows 602. In this case, data from a plurality of CMUT elements 606 having different bias voltage levels applied may be acquired from a plurality of firings of the CMUT array 600” [0069]. Therefore, since the bias voltage supply 114 receives input from the imaging system 106 (see FIG. 1), to generate multiple levels of bias voltages for individual groups of CMUT elements (See [0028]) and more than two different bias voltage levels may be applied to the different rows 602 (See [0069]), said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first transmit aperture (see 502 in FIG. 5A) and the second transmit bias aperture (i.e. see 522 in FIG. 5C) are generated according to a discrete set of bias levels, the discrete set of bias levels comprising at least three distinct bias levels.).
Regarding claim 6, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, the first transmit operation is performed as a set of first synthetic transmit operations and the second transmit operation is performed as a corresponding set of second synthetic transmit operations, and wherein the set of first synthetic transmit operations and the set of second synthetic transmit operations are configured to reduce or avoid phase wrapping within the subarray” (See [0052] and [0054] as discussed with respect to claim 1 above. As shown in FIG. 5A, the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) are activated at a higher bias voltage than the center row 202(2). Conversely, as shown in FIG. 5C, the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) are activated at a lower bias voltage than the center row 202(2). In this case, the bias voltage condition 502 represents a first transmit operation (i.e. first synthetic transmit operations) and the bias voltage condition 522 represents a second transmit operation (i.e. second synthetic transmit operations). Since the rows 202(1)-202(3) are activated with different bias voltages in FIGS. 5A and 5C, said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that for at least one subarray, the first transmit operation is performed as a set of first synthetic transmit operations and the second transmit operation is performed as a corresponding set of second synthetic transmit operations, and wherein the set of first synthetic transmit operations and the set of second synthetic transmit operations are configured to reduce or avoid phase wrapping within the subarray.).
Regarding claim 9, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 6 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the number of synthetic transmit operations associated with a given subarray is dependent on a focal location associated with the transmit phase aperture” (“For the synthetic aperture beamforming herein, the individual signals attributed to each element may be summed, weighted (apodization), and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image” [0049]; “The above example may be extended to include multiple different bias voltage levels during transmission as well. For instance, in the above example and as discussed in the example of FIG. 3, the transmitted ultrasound beam has the same elevational aperture and delay profile, i.e., focus, for both the first firing and the second firing. In other examples herein, however, multiple firings may be used so that only one element or sub-group of elements transmits at each firing. This allows creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth of the image. The applied bias voltage level may be used to select which elements are transmitting at each firing” [0050]; “Furthermore, switching the bias voltage applied to CMUT elements in transmit and receive may be combined for concurrently creating a retrospective transmit focus and dynamic receive focus” [0051].
Therefore, since synthetic aperture beamforming is performed and utilizes multiple different bias voltage levels during transmission to allow creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth, said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the number of synthetic transmit operations (i.e. see FIGS. 5A and 5C, for example) associated with a given subarray is dependent on a focal location associated with the transmit phase aperture.).
Regarding claim 10, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 6 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the number of synthetic transmit operations associated with a given subarray is selected to minimize a variation in a signal-to-noise ratio among synthetic transmit operations associated with the given subarray” (“The signals from each of the array firings are stored in memory or other computer-readable medium, and the contributions of each transmit/receive CMUT element or CMUT element pair may be estimated by inverting the efficiency matrix, as discussed above. The efficiency matrix may be a square matrix in which each dimension is equal to the total number of firings. The firings may be at least equal to the total number of CMUT elements or CMUT element pair combinations available. Additionally, more firings over that number may improve the signal-to-noise ratio even though there may be no additional spatial information gained” [0073]. Therefore, since more firings over the total number of CMUT elements or CMUT element pair combinations are obtained to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, the control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the number of synthetic transmit operations (i.e. firings) associated with a given subarray is selected to minimize a variation in a signal-to-noise ratio (i.e. improve signal-to-noise ratio) among synthetic transmit operations associated with the given subarray.).
Regarding claim 14, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the transmit phase aperture associated with a real focus, such that the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation synthetically focus ultrasound energy at the real focus” (See 504 and 524 in FIGS. 5A and 5C, respectively, and “The above example may be extended to include multiple different bias voltage levels during transmission as well. For instance, in the above example and as discussed in the example of FIG. 3, the transmitted ultrasound beam has the same elevational aperture and delay profile, i.e., focus, for both the first firing and the second firing. In other examples herein, however, multiple firings may be used so that only one element or sub-group of elements transmits at each firing. This allows creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth of the image. The applied bias voltage level may be used to select which elements are transmitting at each firing” [0050]. Therefore, since the transmitted ultrasound beam same elevational aperture and delay profile (i.e. focus) for both the first and second firing (i.e. first and second transmit operations) to allow the creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth, the control and processing circuitry must be configured such that the transmit phase aperture is associated with a real focus, such that the first transmit operation (i.e. 504) and the second transmit operation (i.e. 524) synthetically focus ultrasound energy at the real focus (i.e. same elevational aperture and delay profile).).
Regarding claim 15, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 14 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein the real focus is a first real focus, and wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that an additional first transmit operation and an additional second transmit operation are performed to synthetically focus ultrasound energy at a second real focus residing proximal to the first real focus, wherein the additional first transmit operation is performed using the first transmit bias aperture and the additional second transmit operation is performed using the second transmit bias aperture, such that the second real focus is obtained by modifying the coarse transmit subarray delays applied to the transmit signals without modifying the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture” (“FIG. 5B illustrates a second firing bias voltage condition 512 with a transmit portion 514 and a receive portion 516. The second firing 512 includes transmitting with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a higher bias voltage than a lower bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 514. During receiving 516, the second firing includes receiving 516 with the center row 202(2) under the higher bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the lower bias voltage” [0053]; “FIG. 5D illustrates a fourth firing bias voltage condition 532 with a transmit portion 534 and a receive portion 536. The fourth firing 532 includes transmitting 534 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a lower bias voltage than a higher bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 534. During receiving 536, the fourth firing includes receiving 536 with the center row 202(2) under the higher bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the lower bias voltage” [0055].
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the transmit aperture 504 (i.e. first transmit operation) is the same as the transmit aperture 514. Therefore, the transmit aperture 514 represents an additional first transmit operation. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, the transmit aperture 524 (i.e. second transmit operation) is the same as the transmit aperture 534. Therefore, the transmit aperture 534 represents an additional second transmit operation. Additionally, since the transmit focus can be focused retrospectively at any depth of the image, the real focus is a first real focus and the said control and processing circuitry must be configured such that an additional first transmit operation (see 514 in FIG. 5B) and an additional second transmit operation (see 534 in FIG. 5D) are performed to synthetically focus ultrasound energy at a second real focus residing proximal to the first real focus (i.e. at any depth of the image, see [0050]), wherein the additional first transmit operation is performed using the first transmit bias aperture (i.e. 504 is the same as 514, see FIGS. 5A and 5B) and the additional second transmit operation (i.e. 524 is the same as 534, see FIGS. 5C and 5D) is performed using the second transmit bias aperture, such that the second real focus is obtained by modifying the coarse transmit subarray delays applied to the transmit signals without modifying the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture.).
Regarding claim 16, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 14 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured to perform additional first and second transmit operations to synthetically focus ultrasound energy at a plurality of focal locations within a selected sector by modifying the coarse transmit subarray delays applied to the transmit signals without modifying the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture” (See [0053] and [0055] as discussed in claim 15 above, [0050] as discussed in claim 14 above and “For the synthetic aperture beamforming herein, the individual signals attributed to each element may be summed, weighted (apodization), and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image. The weighting of the individual signals may be used to reduce beam sidelobes and ensure a constant f-number to achieve uniformity of resolution with depth” [0049].
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the transmit aperture 504 (i.e. first transmit operation) is the same as the transmit aperture 514. Therefore, the transmit aperture 514 represents an additional first transmit operation. Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, the transmit aperture 524 (i.e. second transmit operation) is the same as the transmit aperture 534. Therefore, the transmit aperture 534 represents an additional second transmit operation. Additionally, since individual signals from each element 104 may be summed, weighted and delayed to form received beams with focus located at multiple points within an image and multiple firings may be used to allow for the creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth of the image, the control and processing is configured to perform additional first and second transmit operations (i.e. see FIGS. 5B and 5D, respectively) to synthetically focus ultrasound energy at a plurality of focal locations within a selected sector by modifying the coarse transmit subarray delays applied to the transmit signals without modifying the first transmit bias aperture and the second transmit bias aperture.).
Regarding claim 17, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the transmit phase aperture is associated with a virtual focus, such that the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation synthetically generate ultrasound energy according to the virtual focus” (See 504 in FIG. 5A and 524 in FIG. 5C and “Furthermore, as it may not be possible to completely turn off the bias voltage for performing synthetic aperture imaging, in some cases herein, signals are acquired at a plurality of different bias voltage levels, which allows separation of the contributions of individual CMUT elements to the common signal. The separated signals can then be recombined to achieve a reconstruction of a retrospective transmit focus and/or dynamic receive focus. In addition, the separated signals may be recombined with different depth dependent weightings to achieve depth dependent apodization and constant f-number” [0016]; “The above example may be extended to include multiple different bias voltage levels during transmission as well. For instance, in the above example and as discussed in the example of FIG. 3, the transmitted ultrasound beam has the same elevational aperture and delay profile, i.e., focus, for both the first firing and the second firing. In other examples herein, however, multiple firings may be used so that only one element or sub-group of elements transmits at each firing. This allows creation of a transmit focus retrospectively at any depth of the image. The applied bias voltage level may be used to select which elements are transmitting at each firing” [0050]. Therefore, since the ultrasound beam has the same elevational aperture and delay profile (i.e. focus) for both the first firing and the second firing, to create a retrospective transmit focus, the control and processing circuitry is configured such that the transmit phase aperture (i.e. 504, 524 in FIGS. 5A and 5C) is associated with a virtual focus (i.e. retrospective transmit focus), such that the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation synthetically generate ultrasound energy according to the virtual focus.).
Regarding claim 18, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured to perform additional operations for synthetically receiving ultrasound energy according to a receive phase aperture, comprising:” (See FIG. 1 and [0028]. Therefore, the control and processing circuitry is further configured to perform additional operations for synthetically receiving ultrasound energy according to a receive phase aperture (i.e. through transmit and/or receive (TX/RX) channels 112).);
“in response to the first transmit operation, performing a first receive operation by receiving a first set of receive signals while applying a first receive bias aperture” (“FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate a bias voltage configuration for an example sequence 500 of four consecutive firings of a CMUT array 102 according to some implementations. In this sequence 500, the order of the firings is immaterial and may be executed in any order. FIG. 5A illustrates a first firing bias voltage condition 502 with a transmit portion 504 and a receive portion 506. The first firing 502 includes transmitting 504 and receiving 506 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a higher bias voltage than a lower bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during both transmitting and receiving ultrasonic energy” [0052]. Therefore, in response to the first transmit operation (i.e. by transmit portion 504), the control and processing circuitry is configured for performing a first receive operation (i.e. by receive portion 506) by receiving a first set of receive signals while applying a first receive bias aperture (i.e. first firing bias voltage condition 502).).;
“in response to the second transmit operation, performing a second receive operation by receiving a second set of receive signals while applying the first receive bias aperture” (“FIG. 5C illustrates a third firing bias voltage condition 522 with a transmit portion 524 and a receive portion 526. The third firing 522 includes transmitting 524 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a lower bias voltage than a higher bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 524. During receiving 526, the third firing includes receiving 526 with the center row 202(2) under the lower bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the higher bias voltage” [0054]. Therefore, in response to the second transmit operation (i.e. 522), the control and processing circuitry is configured for performing a second receive operation (i.e. 526) by receiving a second set of receive signals while applying the first receive bias aperture (i.e. 506 is the same as 526).);
“performing a third transmit operation by repeating the first transmit operation, and in response to the third transmit operation, performing a third receive operation by receiving a third set of receive signals while applying a second receive bias aperture and applying a quarter-wave time delay to the third set of receive signals” (See [0052] and “FIG. 5B illustrates a second firing bias voltage condition 512 with a transmit portion 514 and a receive portion 516. The second firing 512 includes transmitting with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a higher bias voltage than a lower bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 514. During receiving 516, the second firing includes receiving 516 with the center row 202(2) under the higher bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the lower bias voltage” [0053]; “The received signals from the partial beams may then be used to recreate the full beam by recombining the received signal with appropriate delays and weightings” [0018]. Therefore, the control and processing circuitry is configured for performing a third transmit operation by repeating the first transmit operation (i.e. 504 is the same as 514), and in response to the third transmit operation, performing a third receive operation (i.e. 516) by receiving a third set of receive signals while applying a second receive bias aperture (i.e. 516) and applying a quarter-wave time delay (i.e. appropriate delays, see [0018]) to the third set of receive signals.);
“performing a fourth transmit operation by repeating the second transmit operation, and in response to the fourth transmit operation, performing a fourth receive operation by receiving a fourth set of receive signals while applying the second receive bias aperture and applying a quarter-wave time delay to the fourth set of receive signals” (See [0018] as discussed above, and “FIG. 5D illustrates a fourth firing bias voltage condition 532 with a transmit portion 534 and a receive portion 536. The fourth firing 532 includes transmitting 534 with the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under a lower bias voltage than a higher bias voltage applied to the center row 202(2) during the transmitting 534. During receiving 536, the fourth firing includes receiving 536 with the center row 202(2) under the higher bias voltage and the edge rows 202(1) and 202(3) under the lower bias voltage” [0055]. Therefore, the control and processing circuitry is configured for performing a fourth transmit operation (i.e. 534 is the same as 524) by repeating the second transmit operation (i.e. 534 is the same as 524), and in response to the fourth transmit operation, performing a fourth receive operation (i.e. 536) by receiving a fourth set of receive signals while applying the second receive bias aperture (i.e. 516 same as 536) and applying a quarter-wave time delay (i.e. appropriate delays) to the fourth set of receive signals.);
“wherein the first receive bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture are configured to synthetically generate a fine phase delay associated with the receive phase aperture” (See 506 and 526 in FIGS. 5A and 5C and [0018] as discussed above and “ In the ultrasound imaging performed herein, signals from the elements 104 in an aperture may be combined by beamforming to create an image. In the beamforming process herein, the signals from the elements 104 may be summed together with delays that correspond to the time of flight of the ultrasound wave from a particular point in space to each element 104. For a fixed delay, the beamforming process may create a beam with a single focus at some point in the imaged space. An azimuthal resolution may be determined by the width of the beam and which is smallest at the focus. In order to improve resolution uniformity a different delay profile may be applied for each point in the image corresponding to a focus at that point” [0039]. Therefore, since the received signals from the partial beams (i.e. received by 506 and 526) are used to recreate the full beam by recombining the received signal with appropriate delays and weightings, and a fixed delay beamforming process may create a beam with a single focus (i.e. a fine phase delay), the first receive bias aperture (i.e. 506) and the second receive bias aperture (i.e. 526) are configured to synthetically generate a fine phase delay associated with the receive phase aperture;
“beamforming each of the first set of receive signals, the second set of receive signals, the third set of receive signals and the fourth set of receive signals, according to coarse receive subaperture delays associated with the receive phase aperture, and summing the resulting first beamformed receive signal, second beamformed receive signal, third beamformed receive signal, a fourth beamformed receive signal to obtain a final receive beamformed signal” (See [0039] above. Therefore, since the signals from the elements 104 in an aperture may be combined by beamforming to create an image by summing together the signals from the elements 104 together with delays that correspond to the time of flight of the ultrasound wave from a particular point in space to each element 104, the control and processing circuitry is further configured to perform the step of beamforming each of the first set of receive signals, the second set of receive signals, the third set of receive signals and the fourth set of receive signals, according to coarse receive subaperture delays associated with the receive phase aperture, and summing the resulting first beamformed receive signal, second beamformed receive signal, third beamformed receive signal, a fourth beamformed receive signal to obtain a final receive beamformed signal.).
Regarding claim 19, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 18 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first receive bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture are generated according to a discrete set of bias levels, the discrete set of bias levels comprising at least three distinct bias levels” (See [0028] as discussed in claim 1 above, and “As another example, there may be more than two different bias voltage levels applied to the different rows 602. In this case, data from a plurality of CMUT elements 606 having different bias voltage levels applied may be acquired from a plurality of firings of the CMUT array 600” [0069]. Therefore, since the bias voltage supply 114 receives input from the imaging system 106 (see FIG. 1), to generate multiple levels of bias voltages for individual groups of CMUT elements (See [0028]) and more than two different bias voltage levels may be applied to the different rows 602 (See [0069]), said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first receive aperture (see 506 in FIG. 5A) and the second receive bias aperture (i.e. see 526 in FIG. 5C) are generated according to a discrete set of bias levels, the discrete set of bias levels comprising at least three distinct bias levels.).
Regarding claim 21, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 18 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the set of synthetic transmit and receive operations are performed in a sequence that minimizes switching between the bias apertures” (“FIGS. 5A-5D illustrate a bias voltage configuration for an example sequence 500 of four consecutive firings of a CMUT array 102 according to some implementations. In this sequence 500, the order of the firings is immaterial and may be executed in any order” [0052]. Therefore, since the order of the firings of the CMUT array 102 is immaterial and may be executed in any order, said control and processing circuitry must be configured such that the set of synthetic transmit and receive operations are performed in a sequence that minimizes switching between the bias apertures.).
Regarding claim 22, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 18 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein the first receive bias aperture is the same as the first transmit bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture is the same as the second transmit bias aperture” (See 504 and 506 in FIG. 5A and 534 and 536 in FIG. 5D and [0052] as discussed in claim 21 above. As shown in FIG. 5A, the aperture 506 (i.e. first receive bias aperture) is the same as the aperture 504 (i.e. first transmit bias aperture). Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5D, the aperture 536 (i.e. second receive bias aperture) is the same as the aperture 534 (i.e. the second transmit bias aperture). In this case, since the order of the firings is immaterial and may be executed in any order (see [0052]) and the transmit and receive apertures are the same in FIGS. 5A and 5D, respectively, the first receive bias aperture is the same as the first transmit bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture is the same as the second transmit bias aperture.).
Regarding claim 23, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 18 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein the first transmit operation, the second transmit operation, the third transmit operation, and the fourth transmit operation are a first set of synthetic transmit operations and wherein the first receive operation, the second receive operation, the third receive operation, and the fourth receive operation are a first set of synthetic receive operations, and wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured to perform at least one additional set of synthetic transmit operations and at least one additional set of synthetic receive operations, wherein each set of synthetic transmit operations is configured to synthetically generate an ultrasound field that approximates a plane wave, and wherein the plane waves associated with the sets of synthetic transmit operations spatially overlap within a region” (See [0050] as discussed in claim 9 above and [0052], [0053], [0054], [0055] as discussed with respect to claim 18 above; “Alternatively, in the case where there are not enough channels for every element 104, a group of elements can share one TX/RX channel through the use of switches and channel multiplexing. The data for each TX/RX channel can then be derived from multiple transmit/receive activations also referred to as “firings” of the array or a portion of the array, such as where only a single element from the aperture participates in a particular firing. This technique may be referred to as synthetic aperture beamforming and involves combining the signals from separate firing events” [0040]; “For the synthetic aperture beamforming herein, the individual signals attributed to each element may be summed, weighted (apodization), and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image” [0049].
In this case, since synthetic aperture beamforming involves combining the signals from separate firing events and forming receive beams with the focus of the received beams at multiple points of the image, the first transmit operation, the second transmit operation, the third transmit operation, and the fourth transmit operation (see 504, 514, 524, 534 in FIGS. 5A-5D) are a first set of synthetic transmit operations and wherein the first receive operation, the second receive operation, the third receive operation, and the fourth receive operation (See 506, 516, 526, 536 in FIGS. 5A-5D), are a first set of synthetic receive operations. Furthermore, since multiple firings can be performed to allow for the creation of a transmit focus retrospectively focused at any depth, the control and processing circuitry is configured to perform at least one additional set of synthetic transmit operations and at least one additional set of synthetic receive operations, wherein each set of synthetic transmit operations is configured to synthetically generate an ultrasound field that approximates a plane wave, and wherein the plane waves associated with the sets of synthetic transmit operations spatially overlap within a region (i.e. to achieve focusing at any depth of the image).);
“wherein each set of synthetic receive operations is configured to synthetically focus ultrasound energy from a different location within the region” (See [0049] above. Since the individual signals from each element 104 may be summed, weighted and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image, each set of synthetic receive operations is configured to synthetically focus ultrasound energy from a different location within the region.).
Regarding claim 24, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 23 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that each set of synthetic receive operations synthetically focuses ultrasound energy from a different location by modifying the coarse receive subarray delays in the absence of modifying the first receive bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture” (See [0049] as discussed in claim 23 above. Therefore, since individual signals from each element 104 may be summed, weighted and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image, the control and processing circuitry must be configured such that each set of synthetic receive operations (i.e. 206, 516, 526, 536) synthetically focuses ultrasound energy from a different location by modifying the coarse receive subarray delays (i.e. delays, see [0049]) in the absence of modifying the first receive bias aperture (i.e. see 506, 526 in FIGS. 5A, 5C) and the second receive bias aperture (i.e. see 516, 536 in FIGS. 5B, 5D).).
Regarding claim 25, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 23 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that each set of synthetic receive operations synthetically focuses ultrasound energy from a different location, at least in part, by modifying the coarse receive subarray delays, and wherein at least two different pairs of the first receive bias aperture and the second receive bias aperture are employed when performing the sets of synthetic receive operations” (See [0049] as discussed in claim 23 above. Therefore, since the individual signals from each element 104 may be summed, weighted and delayed to form received beams with the focus of the received beams located at multiple points of the image, the control and processing circuitry must be configured such that each set of synthetic receive operations (i.e. 506, 516, 526, 536) synthetically focuses ultrasound energy from a different location (i.e. multiple points), at least in part, by modifying the coarse receive subarray delays (i.e. delays), and wherein at least two different pairs (see FIGS. 5A-5D) of the first receive bias aperture (i.e. see 506 and 526 in FIGS. 5A, 5C) and the second receive bias aperture (i.e. see 516, 536 in FIGS. 5B, 5D) are employed when performing the sets of synthetic receive operations.).
Regarding claim 27, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein the array of ultrasound transducer elements is formed from an array of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer elements” (See [0027] as discussed in claim 1 above and FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a CMUT array 102 (i.e. 1.5D CMUT array, see [0027]) with a plurality of CMUT elements 104. Therefore, the array of ultrasound transducer elements is formed from an array of capacitive micromachined ultrasound transducer elements (i.e. CMUTs 104).).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 5, 13 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. US 2018/0372691 A1 as applied to claims 1, 4 and 19 above, and further in view of Daft et al. US 2004/0160144 A1 “Daft”.
Regarding claims 5 and 20, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claims 4 and 19 above, however, Zhao does not teach “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the bias levels of the first transmit bias aperture and the bias levels of the second transmit bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first transmit aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second transmit aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic transmit aperture generated by compounding of the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation approximates the transmit phase aperture” (Claim 4); or “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first receive bias aperture and the bias levels of the second receive bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first receive aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second receive aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic receive aperture generated by the compounding of the receive operations approximates the receive phase aperture” (Claim 20).
Daft is within the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention because it involves a cMUT array which receives a positive or negative voltage (see FIG. 5, [0034] and [0036]).
Daft teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the bias levels of the first transmit bias aperture and the bias levels of the second transmit bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first transmit aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second transmit aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic transmit aperture generated by compounding of the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation approximates the transmit phase aperture” (Claim 4) and “wherein said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first receive bias aperture and the bias levels of the second receive bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first receive aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second receive aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic receive aperture generated by the compounding of the receive operations approximates the receive phase aperture” (Claim 20) (“FIG. 5 shows the cMUT array 200 external circuit connections of an embodiment of the present invention. […] However, in this exemplary embodiment, the bottom electrodes of corresponding transducer cells of adjacent transducer elements are connected together to form elevation rows. Each elevation row is externally connected 510 to a separate output channel of an N by 2 multiplexer 520. The multiplexer 520 inputs are a positive 530 and negative 540 bias voltage. The multiplexer 520 control signal comes from an EPROM 550 lookup table using a focal zone number 560 pointer” [0034]; “The multiplexer routes either the positive or negative bias voltage to the N elevation row connections, based on a lookup table in the EPROM 550” [0036]; “A capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer with control of elevation phase through alternating bias polarity is disclosed. Such control of elevation phase results in simple ultrasonic probes with excellent slice thickness attributes. Furthermore, tight spatial variation of phase results in an effective way to achieve transmit aperture and apodization control” [Abstract].
Therefore, since a lookup table in EPROM 550 is used by the multiplexer 520 to route a positive (i.e. 530) or negative (i.e. 540) bias voltage to the N elevation row connection, said control and processing circuitry is configured such that the bias levels of the first transmit bias aperture and the bias levels of the second transmit bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first transmit aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second transmit aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic transmit aperture generated by compounding of the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation approximates the transmit phase aperture (see [Abstract]). Furthermore, said control and processing circuitry is configured such that bias levels of the first receive bias aperture (i.e. 506 in Zhao FIG. 5A) and the bias levels of the second receive bias aperture (i.e. 526 in Zhao FIG. 5C) are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first receive aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second receive aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic receive aperture generated by the compounding of the receive operations approximates the receive phase aperture.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such that the control and processing circuitry is configured such that the bias levels of the first transmit bias aperture and the bias levels of the second transmit bias aperture are obtained from a lookup table, the lookup table associating, for each phase range of a plurality of phase ranges, a suitable first transmit aperture bias value selected from the discrete set of bias levels and a suitable second transmit aperture bias level selected from the discrete set of bias levels, such that a synthetic transmit aperture generated by compounding of the first transmit operation and the second transmit operation approximates the transmit phase aperture as disclosed in Daft in order to effectively select the bias levels supplied to the ultrasound transducer elements. Accessing bias levels from a lookup table is one of a finite number of techniques which can be used to effectively select bias levels at which to operate ultrasound transducer elements with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, modifying the system of Zhao such that the control and processing circuitry accesses bias levels from a lookup table as discussed in Daft would yield the predictable result of selecting bias levels at which to operate ultrasound transducer elements.
Regarding claim 13, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above. However, Zhao does not teach “wherein at least on subarray is sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range”.
Daft teaches “wherein at least on subarray is sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range” (“A capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer with control of elevation phase through alternating bias polarity is disclosed. Such control of elevation phase results in simple ultrasonic probes with excellent slice thickness attributes. Furthermore, tight spatial variation of phase results in an effective way to achieve transmit aperture and apodization control. Further still, such capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducers can achieve elevation focus without the need of a lossy mechanical lens” [Abstract]; “The present invention provides a means to control the phase profile of a capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) element or array of elements by varying the spatial distribution of the sign of the bias voltage on the cMUT” [0013]; “The present invention achieves these and other goals by providing a method for controlling the elevation slice thickness in both the near field and the far field of a cMUT's usable range. The near field improvement is obtained by reducing both the effective radiating and receiving aperture. In the far field, phase focusing is applied to reduce the slice thickness. In many applications of medical ultrasound, it is advantageous to split the displayed image into several "focal zones" that result from individual transmit firings. Combining these focal zones leads to a composite image more closely approximating a confocal system. With aperture control and phase focusing, the elevation focal length can be altered to match the azimuth focus in each focal zone of the image” [0015]. Therefore, in order for the the phase profile of the capacitive microfabricated ultrasonic transducer (i.e. containing an array of elements, see FIG. 2, for example) to be controlled by varying the spatial distribution of the sign of the bias voltage (i.e. alternating bias polarity), at least one subarray must be sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such that at least one subarray is sufficiently small to avoid phase wrapping within a pre-selected steering range as disclosed in Daft in order to achieve effective transmit aperture and apodization control within an ultrasonic probe (see Daft: [Abstract], [0015]) thereby, avoiding phase issues.
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. US 2018/0372691 A1 as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Zemp et al. US 2019/0235077 A1 “Zemp”.
Regarding claim 7, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 6 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that when performing a given first synthetic transmit operation associated with the first transmit operation, a respective subaperture of the elements of the subarray is biased according to the first transmit bias aperture […] and wherein the given first synthetic transmit operation has a corresponding second synthetic transmit operation associated with the second transmit operation, in which the subaperture of the electrodes of the subarray is biased according to the second transmit bias aperture […] and wherein the given first synthetic transmit operation and the corresponding second synthetic transmit operation are performed using a coarse transmit subaperture delay selected to reduce or avoid phase wrapping within the subaperture of elements of the subarray” (See [0052] and [0054] as discussed in claim 1 above. In this case, the first firing bias voltage condition 502 represents a first synthetic transmit operation, and the third firing bias voltage condition 522 represents a second synthetic transmit operation. As shown that in FIGS. 5A and 5C, different bias voltages applied to the ultrasound elements 104, thereby reducing or avoiding phase wrapping. Therefore, said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that when performing a given first synthetic transmit operation associated with the first transmit operation (see 502 in FIG. 5A), a respective subaperture of the elements of the subarray is biased according to the first transmit bias aperture (i.e. edge rows 202(1) and 202(2) have higher bias, than center row 202(2)) […] and wherein the given first synthetic transmit operation has a corresponding second synthetic transmit operation associated with the second transmit operation (see 522 in FIG. 5C), in which the subaperture of the electrodes of the subarray is biased according to the second transmit bias aperture (i.e. edge rows 202(1) and 202(2) have lower bias, than center row 202(2)) […] and wherein the given first synthetic transmit operation and the corresponding second synthetic transmit operation are performed using a coarse transmit subaperture delay selected to reduce or avoid phase wrapping within the subaperture of elements of the subarray.).
However, Zhao does not teach “a/the remainder of the elements in the subarray being unbiased”.
Zemp is within the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention because it involves a system for imaging a sample which used a 2D array of bias-sensitive, ultrasound transducers arranged in first and second strips (See [Abstract]).
Zemp teaches “a/the remainder of the elements in the subarray being unbiased” (“In addition, bias sensitive transducers such as Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasound Transducers (CMUTs) or bias-sensitive piezoelectric arrays allow for additional types of operation by switching array biases. For example, the signal for a single element in a bias-sensitive 2D array can be obtained by biasing the corresponding column and receiving from the corresponding row. Unbiased elements will not receive signals and so will not contribute to the signals received at the connected row” [0003]. Therefore, the bias-sensitive 2D array of CMUTs includes biased elements and unbiased elements in order to direct an ultrasonic signal. Therefore, a/the remainder of the elements in the subarray are unbiased.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such the first and second transmit bias apertures include unbiased elements as disclosed in Zemp in order to allow for an ultrasound beam to be effectively directed. Configuring an ultrasound subarray with a series of unbiased elements is one of a finite number of techniques which can be used to direct ultrasonic signals with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, modifying the system of Zhao such the first and second transmit bias apertures include unbiased elements as disclosed in Zemp would yield the predictable result of allowing for an ultrasound beam to be effectively directed.
Regarding claim 8, Zhao in view of Zemp discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 7 above, and Zhao further teaches “wherein said control and processing circuitry is further configured such that the coarse transmit subaperture delay is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays, within the subaperture of the subarray, that would be needed to generate the transmit phase aperture according to a single transmit operation” (See [0040] as discussed in claim 1 above. Therefore, since synthetic aperture beamforming is used to combine the signals from separate firing events in which only a single element from the aperture participates in a particular firing into a single firing event, the control and processing circuitry must have been further configured such that for at least one subarray (i.e. column 204(1)-204(N) or row 202(1)-202(3)), the coarse transmit subarray delay associated with the subarray is a statistical measure generated based on processing a set of per-element time delays, within the subarray that would be needed to generate the transmit phase aperture according to a single transmit operation.).
Claim(s) 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. US 2018/0372691 A1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Greenstein et al. US 5,485,843 A “Greenstein”.
Regarding claim 11, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above, however Zhao does not teach “wherein two or more of the subarrays have different sizes”.
Greenstein is within a related field of endeavor as the claimed invention because it involves piezoelectric elements in a transducer array which are individually excited and used to sense the back-scattered signal from fluid flowing within an interrogation volume (see [Abstract]).
Greenstein teaches “wherein two or more of the subarrays have different sizes” (“FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram that shows the major components and signals of a system for measuring flow using an ultrasonic spherical interrogation volume. In FIG. 8, a configuration in which a simple 3-ring annular transducer array is simulated by activation of appropriate elements in a 2-D array is shown only for purposes of easy explanation. In FIG. 8, the three active regions of the array are labeled 80a, 80b, and 80c, each of which represents a group of transducer elements in the 2-D array that are activated with essentially the same transmit signal and whose receive signals are processed substantially as if they were a single transducer element” [Column 9, Lines 50-61]. As shown in FIG. 8, the arrays 80a, 80b and 80c are all different sizes.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such that two or more of the subarrays have different sizes as disclosed in Greenstein would yield the predictable result of enabling ultrasound signals to be transmitted therefrom. Constructing an ultrasound probe with differently sized subarrays is one of a finite number of techniques which can be used to enable ultrasonic signals to be transmitted in different directions with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, modifying the system of Zhao such that two or more of the subarrays have different sized as disclosed in Greenstein would yield the predictable result of enabling ultrasound signals to be transmitted therefrom.
Regarding claim 12, Zhao in view of Greenstein discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 11 above, and Greenstein further teaches “wherein a central subarray has a larger size than a peripheral subarray” (See [Column 9, Lines 50-61] as discussed in claim 11 above. As shown in FIG. 8, the active region 80a is a central subarray and has a larger size than the peripheral arrays 80b and 80c.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such that two or more of the subarrays have different sizes and the central subarray has a larger size than a peripheral subarray as disclosed in Greenstein would yield the predictable result of enabling more ultrasound signals to be transmitted from the central subarray. Constructing an ultrasound probe with differently sized subarrays is one of a finite number of techniques which can be used to enable ultrasonic signals to be transmitted in different directions with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, modifying the system of Zhao such that two or more of the subarrays have different sizes and the central subarray has a larger size than a peripheral subarray as disclosed in Greenstein would yield the predictable result of enabling more ultrasound signals to be transmitted from the central subarray.
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. US 2018/0372691 A1 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Emery et al. WO 2008/033528 A1 “Emery”.
Regarding claim 26, Zhao discloses all features of the claimed invention as discussed with respect to claim 1 above. However, Zhao does not teach “wherein the array of ultrasound transducer elements comprises an electrostrictive material”.
Emery is within the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention because it involves electrostrictor material which is used as transducer elements (see [Abstract]).
Emery teaches “wherein the array of ultrasound transducer elements comprises an electrostrictive material” (“Figure 1 is a schematic illustrating the design and bias control of an ultrasonic transducer array based on electrostrictive transducers. This architecture may be used to provide ultrasonic therapy and/or ultrasonic detection/localization” [0045]; “Electrostrictive material allows a Fresnel aperture to be discretely modeled by switching the poling dimension through the application of a bias voltage. In this case, the aperture is subdivided into discrete elements along the bias dimension to model a Fresnel lens. The bias for each element is varied depending on the frequency and focus position. In this case, the position of the elevation focus may vary unlike a conventional lens. Figure 6 shows the resulting Fresnel lens approximation in an electrostrictive material (right figure) for the same aperture discussed in Figure 5” [0052]. Therefore, the array of ultrasound transducer elements comprises an electrostrictive material.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Zhao such that the array of ultrasound transducer elements comprises an electrostrictive material as disclosed in Emery in order to easily allow for switching the poling dimension through the application of a bias voltage (see Emery: [0052]). An electrostrictive material is one of a finite number of devices which can be utilized within ultrasound transducer elements to cause it to be voltage biased with a reasonable expectation of success. Thus, modifying the system of Zhao such that the array of ultrasound transducer elements comprises an electrostrictive material as disclosed in Emery in order to easily allow for switching the poling dimension through the application of a bias voltage (see Emery: [0052]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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/KAITLYN E SEBASTIAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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