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 .
Drawings
The drawings were received on 5/16/2025. These drawings are accepted for examination.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao et al (US 2010/0168562).
Regarding claims 1-5 and 16, Zhao et al discloses and teaches a medical instrument including a first region with first marker, region absent markers, and a second region with a marker, all disposed in a longitudinal direction wherein the first marker includes a first set of pattern rows including symbols along the longitudinal direction which differ from one-another in at least an arrangement of symbols in adjacent rows (0103, 0108, 0110, 0159), and the second marker includes a second plurality of pattern rows with rows including symbols along the longitudinal direction, which differ from one-another in at least an arrangement of symbols in adjacent rows (0129-0137, 0156-0164 for discerning features). At least part of the surface of the regions is a curved surface, the arrangements of the marker rows include differences in arrangement/symbol content for identification, and rows can include symbol(s) which are not included in other rows (0156-0157, Fig 29a-h, 30a-d). Finally, the stereo imaging of the markers is disclosed (0083-0085, Fig 3, 0138).
Regarding claims 6-11, Zhao et al discloses and teaches the customization of the symbols along different rows or columns of elements/symbols (110, 159, Fig 14a-17b, 29a-30d; including a reversal of the order in figure 16a), wherein the types of symbols are the same color and same type in multiple rows (14a-17b), as well as using the same number of symbols in different rows (14a-17b). Additionally, the use of patterns with four symbols (dot, circle, (also includes in other iterations line, blank space, as well as line and circle in 22d))) which have at least two types of symbols with different shapes and four configurations thereof (Fig 22d).
Regarding claims 12-15, Zhao et al discloses and teaches an intermediate region with information which is not including symbols/markers (Fig 12a-17b), can include directional information (0107-0109, Fig 13a-c), and can be scaled precisely or at multiple scales/gradients (0157-0159). Finally, the center points can be aligned on a planar surface (0103, 0034-0037, 0130, 0134, 0140-0141) and the system can be utilized to mark the center of the increments/gradient (0103).
Regarding claims 17-19, Zhao et al discloses and teaches a medical instrument including a first region with first marker, region absent markers, and a second region with a marker, all disposed in a longitudinal direction wherein the first marker includes a first set of pattern rows including symbols along the longitudinal direction which differ from one-another in at least an arrangement of symbols in adjacent rows (0103-0110, 0159, Fig 12a-17b), and the second marker includes a second plurality of pattern rows with rows including symbols along the longitudinal direction, which differ from one-another in at least an arrangement of symbols in adjacent rows (0129-0137, 0156-0164 for discerning features). The disclosure includes the stereo imaging of the markers (0083-0085, Fig 3, 0138), including extraction of position and orientation data from the markers (0019, 0032, Fig 18-19, Claims 1-7 33). The disclosure of Zhao et al includes the specification of relationships between markers/marker elements based on the shape of the medical instrument in the image data and the position/orientation based on the extracted image of the marker elements. Finally, the detection of patterns by a trained model is disclosed (0033, 0076, 0112, 0124-0125) which includes detection of relationships between markers/marker elements as well as the shape/pose of the instrument (as indicated by the pose thereof).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure includes references to Zhao (‘568) and Stopp (‘622) cited herein which include optical tracking elements for surgical tracking, position and orientation data acquisition during a surgical procedure, as well as tracker marker patterning for identification of pose/registration of data regarding a surgical instrument.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL M. LAMPRECHT whose telephone number is (571)272-3250. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9:00-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Keith Raymond can be reached at (571)270-1790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOEL LAMPRECHT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798
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