DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim 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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al (Pub. No.: US 2014/0212110) in view of Sato et al (Pub. No.: US 2018/0214116)
Regarding, claims 1, 12-13, Lee et al disclose an ultrasound diagnosis apparatus, comprising: processing circuitry configured to
acquire a first ultrasound image of a subject based on an ultrasound scan (without contrast media, emphasis added) performed on the subject [see 0073, figs 23];
acquire a plurality of second ultrasound images and each indicating different parameters (after injecting contrast media) [see 0073, 0103, fig 23];
cause the first ultrasound image to be displayed in a first display region of a display device [see 0074, 0107, figs 10, 21, 23] by disclosing acquired by the first scanning in a first zone z1 of a screen d, and displays the other group of ultrasonic images (referred as second images i2) acquired by the second scanning in a second zone z2 of the screen d [see 0074];
cause plural the plurality of second ultrasound images to be displayed in plural a plurality of second display regions that have been are positioned differently (as shown in fig 10) from the first display region of the display device and that are smaller (z2a, and z2b appear to be smaller than Z1as shown in fig 10) than the first display region [see 0073-0075, 0107-0108, fig 10].
Lee et al don’t disclose each including at least a part of a range of the ultrasound scan in common.
Nonetheless, Sato et al disclose each including at least a part of a range of the ultrasound scan in common [see 0043-0045, 0054]
Therefore, it is obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed and would have been motivated to combine Lee et al and Sato et al by having each including at least a part of a range of the ultrasound scan in common; to obtain information about the shapes of tissues within the second scan range [see 0054].
Regarding claim 2, Lee et al don’t disclose acquire the plurality of second ultrasound images for a range corresponding to a region of interest set in the first ultrasound image as the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan.
Nonetheless, Sato et al disclose acquire the plurality of second ultrasound images for a range corresponding to a region of interest set in the first ultrasound image as the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan [see 0043-0045, 0054]
Therefore, it is obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed and would have been motivated to combine Lee et al and Sato et al by acquiring the plurality of second ultrasound images for a range corresponding to a region of interest set in the first ultrasound image as the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan; to obtain information about the shapes of tissues within the second scan range [see 0054].
Regarding claims 3-4, Lee et al don’t disclose wherein the ultrasound scan performed on the subject is a first ultrasound scan,
and an ultrasound scan of a range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan is a second ultrasound scan,
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
perform a series of ultrasound scans including the first ultrasound scan and the second ultrasound scan on the subject;
acquire at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images as an analytical image, based on the second ultrasound scan performed on the subject.
analyze the range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan to acquire the at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images.
Nonetheless, Sato et al disclose wherein the ultrasound scan performed on the subject is a first ultrasound scan [see 0045, 0054];
and an ultrasound scan of a range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan is a second ultrasound scan, [see 0045, 0054];
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
perform a series of ultrasound scans including the first ultrasound scan and the second ultrasound scan on the subject [see 0045, 0054];
acquire at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images as an analytical image, based on the second ultrasound scan performed on the subject [see 0045, 0054];
analyze the range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan to acquire the at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images [see 0045, 0054];
Therefore, it is obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed and would have been motivated to combine Lee et al and Sato et al by performing on the subject is a first ultrasound scan,
and an ultrasound scan of a range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan is a second ultrasound scan,
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
perform a series of ultrasound scans including the first ultrasound scan and the second ultrasound scan on the subject;
acquire at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images as an analytical image, based on the second ultrasound scan performed on the subject.
analyze the range corresponding to the at least a part of the range of the ultrasound scan to acquire the at least one of the plurality of second ultrasound images; to obtain information about the shapes of tissues within the second scan range [see 0054].
Regarding claim 5, Lee et al don’t disclose wherein the first ultrasound image is a morphology image.
Nonetheless, Sato et al disclose wherein the first ultrasound image is a morphology (shape of tissue) image [see 0054] by disclosing to obtain information about the shapes of tissues within the second scan range [see 0054].
Therefore, it is obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed and would have been motivated to combine Lee et al and Sato et al by generating a morphology image; so that the user can analyze the image with greater visualization.
Regarding, claim 6, Lee et al disclose wherein the plurality of second ultrasound images are analytical images based on one of parameters related to tissue characteristics (structures) [see 0036, 0099], bloodstream, quality [see 0100], and temporal change in echo intensity, and respectively indicate different parameters [see 0108].
Regarding, claim 8, Lee et al disclose wherein an analytical image based on a parameter related to the bloodstream includes at least one of a medium-to-high velocity bloodstream image, a low-velocity bloodstream image, and a contrast-enhanced image [see 0073-0074].
Regarding, claim 9, Lee et al disclose wherein the contrast-enhanced image includes at least one of:
an image acquired by adding up pixel values at respective positions in the time direction;
an image acquired by holding the largest one of pixel values at respective positions in the time direction;
an image representing arrival times of a contrast agent at respective positions;
an image representing the amount of movement [see 0018], the moving velocity, or the moving direction of a contrast agent acquired by tracking the contrast agent between time phases.
Regarding, claim 10, Lee et al disclose wherein an analytical image based on a parameter related to the quality includes at least one of:
an image representing a distribution of arrival times of shear waves,
an image representing a distribution of dispersed values of arrival time,
an image representing a spatial or temporal variation of a parameter related to a tissue characteristic [see 0108, 0139-0141].
Regarding, claim 11, Lee et al disclose cause a value representing an analytical result [see 0099] of the second ultrasound image displayed in at least one of the plurality of second display regions within or around that second display regions [see 0114].
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al (Pub. No.: US 2014/0212110) in view of Sato et al (Pub. No.: US 2018/0214116) as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Lee (Pub. No.: US 2016/0063695).
Regarding claim 7, Lee et al don’t wherein an analytical image based on a parameter related to the tissue characteristics includes at least one of an elasticity image, a viscosity image, and an attenuation image.
Nonetheless, Lee 695 discloses the tissue characteristics includes at least one of an elasticity image, a viscosity image, and an attenuation image [see 0075].
Therefore, it is obvious to one skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed and would have been motivated to combine Lee et al and Lee 695 by using an elasticity image; elastic imaging provides objective, numerical values for tissue elasticity (e.g., shear wave speed, Young’s modulus).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOEL F BRUTUS whose telephone number is (571)270-3847. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Sat, 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
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/JOEL F BRUTUS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
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