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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/14/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 1-4, 9, and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tyler et al. (Pub. No.: US 2015/0151142) in view of Benchemoul (Pub. No.: US 2023/0190223).
Consider claims 1, 4, Tyler discloses an ultrasonic sensing system (paragraph [0053], Fig. 1A, apparatus 10 to target and deliver transcranial ultrasound neuromodulation) comprising:
a substrate (paragraph [0058], ultrasound source 12 in the form of a 2-dimensional array 12b arranged as a patch);
a first linear array of ultrasonic transducers coupled to the substrate (paragraph [0054], ultrasound source 12 comprising a first ultrasound array to include linear arrays), the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers for transmitting ultrasonic signals in a first direction (paragraph [0054], first array and the second array can be arranged such that the first array does not overlap substantially with the second array, and such that the first beam and the second beam do not overlap substantially away from the target site);
a second linear array of ultrasonic transducers coupled to the substrate (paragraph [0054], ultrasound source 12 comprising a second ultrasound array to include linear arrays), the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers for transmitting ultrasonic signals in a second direction (paragraph [0054], first array and the second array can be arranged such that the first array does not overlap substantially with the second array, and such that the first beam and the second beam do not overlap substantially away from the target site); and
hardware componentry for controlling transmission of the ultrasonic signals at the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers (paragraph [0053], Fig. 1A, circuitry 14 can drive the ultrasound source 12 in one or more desired frequencies in accordance with instructions from the controller 16) and for controlling receipt of reflected ultrasonic signals at the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers (paragraph [0052], Fig. 1A, ultrasound source 12 may at the same time deliver and receive energy);
wherein the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are positioned such that the ultrasonic signals transmitted in the first direction intersect with the ultrasonic signals transmitted in the second direction at a fixed angle and intersect at a fixed transmission distance (paragraph [0054], the first array and the second array are arranged such that the beams substantially overlap only within a target region of the brain, wherein substantial overlap may comprise an overlap of at least 50% of the area of the full width half maximum of each beam).
Tyler does not specifically disclose wherein the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are fixedly positioned in parallel in a longitudinal direction at a fixed separation distance.
Benchemoul discloses wherein the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are fixedly positioned in parallel in a longitudinal direction at a fixed separation distance (paragraph [0037], Fig. 1, first and second ultrasound probes 101A, 101B are located on either side of the third ultrasound probe 101C and are substantially parallel to each other where the transducers 103A, 103B, 103C are regularly spaced apart, see paragraph [0036]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to replace the linear array of ultrasonic transducers as disclosed by Tyler with the linear array of ultrasonic transducers as taught by Benchemoul to provide for a same array having substantially identical outer dimensions, to within manufacturing dispersions, and are regularly spaced apart (Benchemoul, paragraph [0036]).
Consider claim 2, the combination of Tyler and Benchemoul discloses a wearable patch configured to be attached to a body proximate a blood vessel, wherein the substrate, the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are coupled to the wearable patch and positioned such that the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers can project ultrasonic signals into the body (paragraph [0058], FIG. 1C shows an example of the ultrasound source 12 in the form of a 2-dimensional array 12b arranged as a patch to be placed on the surface of a subject's head HD).
Consider claim 3, the combination of Tyler and Benchemoul discloses a probe housing configured to be manually positioned on a body proximate a blood vessel, wherein the substrate, the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are coupled to the probe housing and positioned such that the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers can project ultrasonic signals into the body (Benchemoul, paragraph [0039], Fig. 1, arrays of ultrasound transducers 103A, 103B of the first and second probes 101A, 101B are oriented transversely with respect to blood vessel 150, and the array of ultrasound transducers 103C of third probe 101C is oriented longitudinally with respect to blood vessel 150).
Consider claim 9, the combination of Tyler and Benchemoul discloses a processing unit (paragraph [0053], Fig. 1A, controller 16) for processing the reflected ultrasonic signals received at the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers for performing cardiovascular monitoring (paragraph [0053], Fig. 1A, circuitry 14 can drive the ultrasound source 12 in one or more desired frequencies in accordance with instructions from the controller 16 where aTCD may use a linear array which may be similar in concept (with different underlying control systems) to so-called cardiac probes used for imaging the heart, see paragraph [0094]).
Consider claim 10, the combination of Tyler and Benchemoul discloses wherein the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and second linear array of ultrasonic transducers are configured to transmit ultrasonic signals into a blood vessel such that the ultrasonic signals intersect at an intersection point at the fixed transmission distance within the blood vessel; and wherein the processing unit is configured to determine mean phase changes of consecutive instances of the reflected ultrasonic signals received at the first linear array of ultrasonic signals and the second linear array of ultrasonic signals, is configured to determine blood flow velocity at the intersection point based at least in part on the mean phase changes, and is configured to determine blood flow direction and Doppler angle at the intersection point by using triangulation to extract blood velocity components from the mean phase changes of consecutive instances of the reflected ultrasonic signals (paragraph [0098], FIG. 6A illustrates, schematically, the use of a scanning acoustic transducer assembly 602 that acoustically illuminates and acquires acoustic data from multiple points within a broad target area 601, such as a large portion of the cerebral blood vessel complex, in a scanning mode).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-8 and 11-20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 5, the prior art of record fails to disclose wherein the third linear array of ultrasonic transducers is fixedly positioned in parallel in the longitudinal direction to the first linear array of ultrasonic transducers and the second linear array of ultrasonic transducers. Tyler rather discloses the third linear array of ultrasonic transducers is fixedly positioned perpendicular to the first and second linear array of ultrasonic transducers.
Regarding claim 11, the prior art of record fails to disclose using the Doppler angle derived at least in part on using triangulation. While the prior art discloses generation of a Color Flow Doppler, the prior art is silent on using triangulation.
Regarding claim 18, the prior art of record fails to disclose the array of ultrasonic transducers to identify a line aligned with a center of a blood vessel. The prior art is silent on identifying a line aligned with a center of a blood vessel.
The remaining claims are objected to due to dependency on objected claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GERALD JOHNSON whose telephone number is (571)270-7685. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carey Michael can be reached at (571)270-7235. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Gerald Johnson/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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