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
Claims 7 and 10-18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 7 recites “optical filtration”. The Examiner believes that this is a typographical mistake and that the Applicant meant to recite “an optical filtration”.
Claim 7 recites “images selected wavelength range”. The Examiner believes that this is a typographical mistake and that the Applicant meant to recite “images a selected wavelength range”.
Claim 10 recites “multiple-use handle”. The Examiner believes that this is a typographical mistake and that the Applicant meant to recite “multiple-use handle portion”.
Claim 11 recites “multiple-use handle” and then later in the claim refers to “the multiple-use portion”. The Examiner believes that this is a typographical mistake and that the Applicant meant to recite “multiple-use handle portion” throughout (including claim 16).
Claim 11 has a misspelled word “impage” that is presumably meant to be “image”.
Claim 17 recites “optical filtering selectively changes”. The Examiner believes that this is a typographical mistake and that the Applicant meant to recite “an optical filtering which selectively changes”.
Appropriate correction is required
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.
Claims 1, 2, 4, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795) in view of Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306).
Regarding Claim 1, Ouyang discloses:
An endoscopy system (Fig. 1) comprising:
a high-definition display (Fig. 1-display module 150) displaying endoscopic images (paragraph 0066- The detected rotational position is then input to a software algorithm configured to reorient the image displayed on display module 150 such that a correctly oriented image is displayed to the operator); and
a handheld portion (Fig. 1-handle 140) comprising:
a multiple-use handle portion (Fig. 5- reusable portion 102;paragraph 0021- More particularly, some embodiments relate to an integrated, handheld, low-cost medical device having a single-use portion and a multiple-use portion) having mechanical and electrical couplers (Paragraph 0056-The single-use portion 104 and reusable portion 102 attach mechanically primarily via mating mechanical connectors 320 and 322. Electrical connection is made via separate mating electrical connectors 310 and 312); and
a single-use portion (Fig.4- single-use portion 104) that includes a substantially straight elongated cannula (Fig. 1- Cannula 120) having a central longitudinal cannula axis (paragraph 0058- central longitudinal axis of the cannula; Fig 9A-main axis 910) and a camera module mounted on a distal end (Paragraph 0028- the cannula's distal region can be a molded housing for the video camera and light source while the cannula's more proximal regions can be extruded; Fig. 11- lens system 1158), and mechanical and electrical couplers (Fig. 4- mechanical connectors 320; Fig. 4- electrical connector 310) configured to mate with the mechanical and electrical couplers of the multiple-use handle portion (paragraph 0056-The single-use portion 104 and reusable portion 102 attach mechanically primarily via mating mechanical connectors 320 and 322 . Electrical connection is made via separate mating electrical connectors 310 and 312) to thereby releasably assemble said portions into an integral endoscope (paragraph 0037-The method further comprises unpacking the single-use portion and releasably (i) interlocking the mechanical connector of the coupler to the mechanical connector of the reusable portion by hand, and (ii) the electrical connector of the unpacked portion to the electrical connector of the reusable portion, thereby releasably assembling an endoscope in which the electrical connection of the single-use to the reusable portion is separate and spaced proximally from the mechanical connection that interlocks the single-use and reusable portions to each other and, after a patient procedure, removing the single-use portion from the reusable portion by hand-action on a release mechanism formed by portions of the single-use portion and the reusable portion);
wherein said camera module has a selected oblique direction of view (DOV) with respect to said cannula axis (paragraph 0055- The camera module in the tip assembly can have a wide angle of view, such as 140 degrees in this example; paragraph 0059- The distal end of cannula 120 can include a bent region 122 which is beneficial for certain applications and can effectively increase the field of view of the camera fixed to the distal tip when the endoscope is rotated about its central longitudinal axis; Fig. 1).
Ouyang does not expressly teach computer processing system; a high-definition display having a display area of at least 12 inches diagonally in electrical communication with the computer processing system for receiving and displaying endoscopic images and a cable for electrical communication thereof with the computer processing system.
Banik teaches an endoscopy system including a single-use endoscope having a computer processing system (Fig. 2; Paragraph 0017- Control cabinet 14 is a special-purpose electronic and electromechanical apparatus that processes and manages all system functions, and includes a network-enabled image-processing CPU); a high-definition display (Fig. 1- display module 150; paragraph 0016- Display 12 is any special-purpose or conventional computer display device, such as a computer monitor, that outputs graphical images and/or text to a user) having a display area of at least 12 inches diagonally in electrical communication with the computer processing for receiving and displaying endoscopic images system (Fig. 1; paragraph 0028- During operation, live endoscopic video images are provided on display 12 by the GUI software application, which processes information from the imaging board 114, and the single-use endoscope 18) and a cable for electrical communication thereof with the computer processing system (Fig. 2- control cables).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the endoscopy system of Ouyang to substitute the display of Ouyang with remote display, and to utilize a cable, as taught by Banik, to convey images through as electrical cable to a display that is remote from the endoscope to display images. It would have been advantageous to make the combination to provide live endoscopic video images and visual feedback of control parameters to the physician or operator so that an examination of the patient can be completed (paragraph 0018 of Banik).
The modified device of Ouyang in view of Banik will hereinafter be referred to as the modified device of Ouyang and Banik.
Additionally it would have been obvious to modify the display of the modified device of Ouyang and Banik to be high definition and 12 inches diagonally, as a device having the claimed relative dimesons would not perform differently than the prior art device. Banik already teaches a display that is any special-purpose or conventional computer display device, such as a computer monitor and the mere changes in size of the essential working parts of a device involves only routine skill in the art (MPEP(2144.04)(IV)(A)).
Regarding Claim 2, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning claim 1, and Ouyang further discloses wherein said camera module is mounted for motion relative to said cannula that selectively changes said DOV (paragraph 0059- The distal end of cannula 120 can include a bent region 122 which is beneficial for certain applications and can effectively increase the field of view of the camera fixed to the distal tip when the endoscope is rotated about its central longitudinal axis).
Regarding Claim 4, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning claim 1, and Ouyang further discloses wherein said single-use portion is configured with a working channel to allow passage of surgical devices through said cannula and said distal tip (paragraph 0054- According to some embodiments, the cannula 120 includes a fluid channel which is fluidly connected to distal fluid port 132 at fluid hub and connection assembly 130).
Regarding Claim 9, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning claim 1, and Ouyang further discloses further including a sterile package housing said single-use portion before use thereof in a medical procedure (paragraph 0037- further providing a single-use portion in sterile packaging… The method further comprises unpacking the single-use portion and releasably (i) interlocking the mechanical connector of the coupler to the mechanical connector of the reusable portion by hand).
Regarding Claim 10, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning claim 1, and Ouyang further discloses in which said single use portion comprises a housing that has a distal portion from which said cannula extends distally (Fig. 4 & Fig. 5) and a proximal portion that mounts to said multiple-use handle through said couplers (Fig. 4 & Fig. 5), and wherein said distal portion of the housing and said cannula are mounted for rotation about said axis relative to said proximal portion of the housing (paragraph 0062-The housing of fluid hub 300 rotates along with cannula 120. A portion of the housing of hub 300 includes ridge 842 and tube 844 that also rotate with cannula 120. …. The stationary portion (i.e. not rotating along with cannula 120) of assembly 130 includes outer sleeve 850).
Claims 3 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795) in view of Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Haggerty et al. (US 2017/0078583).
Ouyang and Banik disclose the invention substantially as claimed as set forth above.
Regarding Claim 3, they do not explicitly disclose wherein said camera module is mounted offset from the central cannula axis and said DOV is directed towards the central cannula axis.
Haggerty teaches an endoscope wherein said camera module is mounted offset from the central cannula axis (Fig. 25; paragraph 0008-a camera assembly is mounted in a rotatable housing. The rotatable housing is configured to rotate about an axis generally perpendicular to a long axis of the insertion end) and said DOV is directed towards the central cannula axis (paragraph 0008-the housing may have a range of motion that provides the camera assembly a field of view that includes a region in line with the long axis of the insertion end and a region at least perpendicular to the long axis of the insertion end. In some cases this may comprise a range of about 0 degrees to about 120 degrees with respect to the long axis of the insertion end, or between about 35 degrees and about 115 degrees).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik to utilize the offset camera module of Haggerty for improved field of view (paragraph 0007 of Haggerty).
Regarding claim 5, Ouyang and Banik do not explicitly disclose wherein the distal tip includes a protrusion to accommodate the camera module being mounted with said oblique DOV without increasing the cross-section of the portion of the distal tip that is distal from the protrusion.
Haggerty teaches an endoscope wherein the distal tip includes a protrusion to accommodate the camera module being mounted with said oblique DOV (Fig. 18- camera pivot bearings 346) without increasing the cross-section of the portion of the distal tip that is distal from the protrusion (paragraph 0210- As shown in FIG. 18, the interior walls of the working segment 336 of the camera assembly housing 330 include two camera mount pivot bearings 346 . In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the camera pivot bearings 346 project substantially perpendicularly from the inner side walls of the camera assembly mount 330).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik to utilize the bearings of Haggerty to order to allow the camera assembly 350 and optical fibers 364 (or other illumination source) to pivot in tandem with one another (paragraph 0228 of Haggerty).
Claims 6, 11, 12, 14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795) in view of Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vandergriff et al. (WO 2017192960).
Ouyang and Banik disclose the invention substantially as claimed as stated above.
Regarding Claim 6, Ouyang further discloses wherein said cannula is mounted for rotation about said axis relative to a proximal portion of the single-use portion (paragraph 0065-FIGS. 9A and 9B are side and front views illustrating further aspects of a rotatable cannula used on a handheld endoscope, according to some embodiments. Cannula 120 along with the distal tip 110 and fluid hub 300 are rotatable about the main axis 910) and further including a manual control to rotate the cannula in response to manipulation of said control (paragraph 0077- the user intends to cause relative rotation between the cannula and handle), but Ouyang does not disclose including a manual control on the multiple-use handle portion that is mechanically coupled with the cannula to rotate the cannula in response to manipulation of said control.
Vandergriff teaches a manual control on the handle portion to rotate the cannula in response to manipulation of said control (paragraph 0027-The cannula assembly 14 includes a cannula rotator knob 24 and a cannula cover tube 26. As shown in the inset in FIG. 1, the valve procedure tool 16 includes a first grasper finger 30 and a second grasper finger 31 which can be opened in response to pulling the handle trigger 20. Using the cannula rotator knob 24, the cannula 14 assembly, including the grasper fingers 30 and 31, can be rotated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik to utilize the knob of Vandergriff as a manual control on the multiple use portion mechanically coupled to cannula via the mechanical couplers. It would have been advantageous to make the combination to move a part connected to the distal end of the cannula (paragraph 0039 of Vandergriff) and because using a knob as a manual control to rotate a cannula is well known in the art.
Regarding Claim 11, Ouyang discloses:
An endoscope (Fig. 1 endoscope 100) comprising:
an image display (Fig. 1-display module 150);
a multiple-use handle (Fig. 5- reusable portion 102; paragraph 0021- More particularly, some embodiments relate to an integrated, handheld, low-cost medical device having a single-use portion and a multiple-use portion);
a single-use portion (Fig.4- single-use portion 104) releasably mating with the multiple-use portion through mechanical and electrical couplers on each to form an assembled instrument for a medical endoscopic procedure (paragraph 0037-The method further comprises unpacking the single-use portion and releasably (i) interlocking the mechanical connector of the coupler to the mechanical connector of the reusable portion by hand, and (ii) the electrical connector of the unpacked portion to the electrical connector of the reusable portion, thereby releasably assembling an endoscope in which the electrical connection of the single-use to the reusable portion is separate and spaced proximally from the mechanical connection that interlocks the single-use and reusable portions to each other and, after a patient procedure, removing the single-use portion from the reusable portion by hand-action on a release mechanism formed by portions of the single-use portion and the reusable portion);
said single-use portion comprising a cannula mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis thereof (Fig. 1- Cannula 120; paragraph 0058- central longitudinal axis of the cannula; Fig 9A-main axis 910) and having an imaging module at a distal end selectively producing images (paragraph 0055- The camera module in the tip assembly can have a wide angle of view, such as 140 degrees in this example; paragraph 0059- The distal end of cannula 120 can include a bent region 122 which is beneficial for certain applications and can effectively increase the field of view of the camera fixed to the distal tip when the endoscope is rotated about its central longitudinal axis; Fig. 1) and conveying said images through said electrical couplers and cable to the image processor for display on said display (paragraph 0057-According to some embodiments 20-pin mini-display port type connectors are used, although many other types of electrical connectors can be used);
wherein said camera module is mounted with a direction of view (DOV) angled relative to said axis (paragraph 0055- The camera module in the tip assembly can have a wide angle of view, such as 140 degrees in this example; paragraph 0059- The distal end of cannula 120 can include a bent region 122 which is beneficial for certain applications and can effectively increase the field of view of the camera fixed to the distal tip when the endoscope is rotated about its central longitudinal axis; Fig. 1).
Ouyang does not explicitly disclose an image processor and an image display remote from the image processor and the image display; an electrical cable connecting the multiple-use handle and the image processor; conveying said images through said electrical couplers and cable to the image processor for display on said display and a manual control mounted on said multiple-use handle and mechanically coupled to said cannula via said mechanical couplers to selectively rotate the cannula about said axis in response to manual manipulation of the control.
Banik teaches and endoscopy system including a single-use endoscope having an image processor (Fig. 2; Paragraph 0017- Control cabinet 14 is a special-purpose electronic and electromechanical apparatus that processes and manages all system functions, and includes a network-enabled image-processing CPU); and an image display remote from the image processor and the image display (Fig. 1- display module 150; paragraph 0016- Display 12 is any special-purpose or conventional computer display device, such as a computer monitor, that outputs graphical images and/or text to a user) an electrical cable connecting the multiple-use handle and the image processor (Fig. 2- control cables) and conveying said images through said electrical couplers and cable to the image processor for display on said display (Fig. 1; paragraph 0028- During operation, live endoscopic video images are provided on display 12 by the GUI software application, which processes information from the imaging board 114, and the single-use endoscope 18).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the endoscopy system of Ouyang to substitute the display of Ouyang with remote display, and to utilize a cable, as taught by Banik, to convey images through as electrical cable to a display that is remote from the endoscope to display images. It would have been advantageous to make the combination to provide live endoscopic video images and visual feedback of control parameters to the physician or operator so that an examination of the patient can be completed (paragraph 0018 of Banik).
The modified device of Ouyang in view of Banik will hereinafter be referred to as the modified device of Ouyang and Banik.
The modified device of Ouyang in view of Banik does not teach a manual control mounted on said multiple-use handle and mechanically coupled to said cannula via said mechanical couplers to selectively rotate the cannula about said axis in response to manual manipulation of the control.
Vandergriff teaches a manual control mounted on said handle to selectively rotate the cannula about said axis in response to manual manipulation of the control (paragraph 0027-The cannula assembly 14 includes a cannula rotator knob 24 and a cannula cover tube 26. As shown in the inset in FIG. 1 , the valve procedure tool 16 includes a first grasper finger 30 and a second grasper finger 31 which can be opened in response to pulling the handle trigger 20. Using the cannula rotator knob 24, the cannula 14 assembly, including the grasper fingers 30 and 31, can be rotated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik to utilize the knob of Vandergriff as a manual control mechanically coupled to cannula via the mechanical couplers. It would have been advantageous to make the combination to move a part connected to the distal end of the cannula (paragraph 0039 of Vandergriff) and because using a knob as a manual control to rotate a cannula is well known in the art.
The modified device of Ouyang in view of Banik and Vandergriff will hereinafter be referred to as the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff.
Regarding Claim 12, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning claim 11, and Ouyang further discloses in which said single-use portion further comprises a housing from which said cannula extends distally (Fig. 8C- assembly 130), said housing having a proximal portion (Fig. 8C-sleeve 850) that is releasably fixed to said multiple-use handle (paragraph 0037- The method further comprises unpacking the single-use portion and releasably (i) interlocking the mechanical connector of the coupler to the mechanical connector of the reusable portion by hand) and a distal portion that is fixed relative to the cannula and rotates therewith relative to the proximal portion of the housing (paragraph 0065-FIGS. 9A and 9B are side and front views illustrating further aspects of a rotatable cannula used on a handheld endoscope, according to some embodiments. Cannula 120 along with the distal tip 110 and fluid hub 300 are rotatable about the main axis 910).
Regarding Claim 14, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning the endoscope of claim 11, and Ouyang further discloses in which said camera module is mounted in said cannula (Paragraph 0028- the cannula's distal region can be a molded housing for the video camera and light source while the cannula's more proximal regions can be extruded; Fig. 11- lens system 1158) for movement therein that selectively changes said DOV (paragraph 0059- The distal end of cannula 120 can include a bent region 122 which is beneficial for certain applications and can effectively increase the field of view of the camera fixed to the distal tip when the endoscope is rotated about its central longitudinal axis).
Regarding Claim 16, the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff teaches the claimed invention as discussed above concerning the endoscope of claim 11, and Ouyang further discloses including a sterile pouch in which said single-use portion is enclosed before being releasable assembled with said multiple-use portion (paragraph 0037- further providing a single-use portion in sterile packaging… The method further comprises unpacking the single-use portion and releasably (i) interlocking the mechanical connector of the coupler to the mechanical connector of the reusable portion by hand).
Claims 7-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795) in view of Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Haggerty et al. (US 2017/0078583) and Nakamura et al. (US 5,105,269).
Ouyang and Banik disclose the invention substantially as claimed as stated above.
Regarding Claim 7, they do not explicitly disclose further including optical filtration at a distal end of said cannula causing said camera module to image selected wavelength range of light that is narrower than the range of white light.
Haggerty teaches an endoscope further including optical filtration at a distal end of said cannula causing said camera module to image selected wavelength range of light (paragraph 0302-The camera assembly 350 may include one or more optical filters to selectively use the wavelengths emitted from one or more of the light sources 702a-d).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the endoscopy system of Ouyang and Banik to include the optical filtration of Haggerty, to enhance the imaging by the camera assembly (paragraph 0302 of Haggerty).
The modified system of Ouyang and Banik in further view of Haggerty will hereinafter be referred to as the modified system of Ouyang and Banik and Haggerty.
The modified system of Ouyang and Banik and Haggerty does not teach the optical filtration system causing the camera to image a selected wavelength range of light that is narrower than the range of white light.
Nakamura teaches an endoscope including an optical filtration system causing the camera to image a selected wavelength range of light (Col. 8, lines 9-12- This solid state imaging device 36 has a sensitivity to a wide wavelength range from the ultraviolet range to the infrared range and including the visible range) that is narrow than the range of white light (Col. 7, lines 23-30 - This band switching filter 27 is peripherally divided into three parts as shown in FIG. 3 and filters 27a, 27b and 27c, transmitting respectively an ultraviolet band, visible band and infrared band, as shown in FIG. 5, are arranged respectively in the divided parts so that any of the ultraviolet band, visible band and infrared band may be selectively transmitted by this band switching filter 27; Col 7, lines 14-17- The above mentioned light source 24 emits lights of wavelengths in a wide range from an ultraviolet range to an infrared range and including a visible range).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the filter of the modified system of Ouyang and Banik and Haggerty to utilize the filter of Nakamura to image wavelengths ranges narrower than white light so that the color tone differences in the respective positions of the observed object difficult to discriminate in a picture image in a general visible range can be easily detected (Col. 9, lines 11-14 of Nakamura).
The modified system of Ouyang and Banik in further of Haggerty will hereinafter be referred to as the modified system of Ouyang and Banik and Haggerty and Nakamura.
Regarding Claim 8, they do not explicitly disclose further including a control over said filtration configured to change the degree or nature of said filtration during use of said system in a medical procedure.
Nakamura teaches an endoscope further including a control (Fig. 1- control part 25) over said filtration configured to change the degree or nature of said filtration during use of said system in a medical procedure (Col. 11, lines 61-65- The above mentioned strobo lamp 24S will emit a light when the filter corresponding to the wavelength range selected by the control part 25 comes into the light path).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified system of Ouyang and Banik and Haggerty and Nakamura to utilize the control part of Nakamura to change the degree or nature of the filter. It would have been advantageous to make the combination so that the object image corresponding to the light emitted from the light and having passed through the selected filter would be imaged by the solid-state imaging device (Col. 11, lines 65-68 of Nakamura).
Claims 13 and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795), Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306), and Vandergriff et al. (WO 2017192960) as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view Haggerty et al. (US 2017/0078583).
Ouyang, Banik, and Vandergriff disclose the invention substantially as claimed as set forth above.
Regarding Claim 13, they do not explicitly disclose in which a distal portion of the cannula comprises a rounded outward bump into which a portion of said camera module fits to thereby provide space for angling the DOV without increasing the cross-section of a portion of the cannula distal from the bump.
Haggerty teaches in which a distal portion of the cannula comprises a rounded outward bump into which a portion of said camera module fits to thereby provide space for angling the DOV (Fig. 18- camera pivot bearings 346) without increasing the cross-section of a portion of the cannula distal from the bump (paragraph 0210- As shown in FIG. 18, the interior walls of the working segment 336 of the camera assembly housing 330 include two camera mount pivot bearings 346. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 18, the camera pivot bearings 346 project substantially perpendicularly from the inner side walls of the camera assembly mount 330).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff to utilize the bearings of Haggerty to order to allow the camera assembly 350 and optical fibers 364 (or other illumination source) to pivot in tandem with one another (paragraph 0228 of Haggerty).
Regarding Claim 17, they do not explicitly disclose further comprising optical filtering selectively passes to said camera module only desirable light wavelengths.
Haggerty teaches an endoscope further comprising optical filtering selectively passes to said camera module only desirable light wavelengths (paragraph 0302-The camera assembly 350 may include one or more optical filters to selectively use the wavelengths emitted from one or more of the light sources 702a-d).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff to utilize the filter of Haggerty in order to selectively use the wavelengths emitted from one or more of the light sources (paragraph 0302 of Haggerty) and to enhance the imaging by the camera assembly (paragraph 0302 of Haggerty).
Regarding Claim 18, they do not explicitly disclose in which said optical filtering selectively changes a range of the wavelengths passed to the camera module.
Haggerty teaches an endoscope in which said optical filtering selectively changes a range of the wavelengths passed to the camera module (paragraph 0302-The camera assembly 350 may include one or more optical filters to selectively use the wavelengths emitted from one or more of the light sources 702a-d).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff to include the filter of Haggerty to selectively use the wavelengths emitted from one or more of the light sources (paragraph 0302 of Haggerty) and in order to enhance the imaging by the camera assembly (paragraph 0302 of Haggerty).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang et al. (US 2017/0188795), Banik et al. (US 2006/0069306), and Vandergriff et al. (WO 2017192960) as applied to claims 11 and 14 above, and further in view of Chung (KR 10-1655653).
Ouyang, Banik, and Vandergriff disclose the invention substantially as claimed as stated above.
Regarding Claim 15, they do not explicitly disclose in which said camera module is mounted for said movement to selectively change the DOV during a medical procedure using said cannula.
Chung teaches an endoscopic device in which said camera module is mounted for said movement to selectively change the DOV during a medical procedure (Fig 1 & Fig. 2; abstract- A joint endoscope camera, comprising: a camera end of an endoscope, the angle of which is adjustable so that a viewing angle can be widened; and a camera end of the endoscope can be changed in angle in accordance with the adjustment).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the modified cannula of the device of Ouyang and Banik and Vandergriff to utilize the camera of Chung to selectively change the DOV so that surgery can be facilitated and operation time can be shortened (Abstract of Chung).
Conclusion
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/TIMOTHY J NEAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3795
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