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 Objections
Claims 6, 8-9 objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 6, 8-9 recites “ fifth circuit”. These should be corrected to “fourth circuit” based on dependency or, claim dependency should be changed to claim 3. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) and 102 (a) (2) as being anticipated by Adler [US 20120310081 A1].
As per claim 20, Adler teaches a system for generating a tomographic image of a luminal organ (Adler Fig 12 wireless embodiment of the device. Note, components with same reference numerals associated with Fig 1C is used for discussion herein), comprising:
a catheter (Adler Fig 12/1C, ¶0008 “A patient interface unit (PIU) can connect to one or more catheters to collect OCT and IVUS imaging data”, ¶0088 “the PIU 115 is in optical communication with a length of optical fiber that is part of the sample arm as shown. This length of fiber is connected to a data collection probe disposed in a subject” the PIU along with inserted fiber comprises a catheter ) including an optical transceiver (Adler Fig 12/1C, ¶0088 “light is communicated to and from the SA switch 155 by an optical cable 138 from and to, respectively, a rotary coupler 152”, item 152 corresponds to an optical transceiver);
an optical device (Adler Fig 12/1C, Fig 2A item 151, Michelson interferometer inside device 145) configured to transmit measurement light to the optical transceiver, receive reflected light from the optical transceiver, and convert, into an electric signal, interference light that is based on the reflected light (Adler ¶0025 “transmitting light from a light source at a first location along a sample arm of an interferometer and a reference arm of the interferometer, … receiving light scattered from a reflector in optical communication with the sample arm; combining the light received from the data collection probe and the light scattered from the reflector to generate interference data; and generating the optical coherence tomography image” OCT imaging using interference); and
an apparatus configured to: upon receipt of the electric signal from the optical device, generate an optical coherence tomographic image based on the electric signal (Adler Fig 12/1C, ¶0025), and
wirelessly transmit the generated optical coherence tomographic image to a display device (Adler ¶0081 “major optical connections are shown as solid lines, while electrical connections are shown as dashed lines. In one embodiment, an electrical connection can include a wireless or wired connection”, ¶0083 “monitors 165a, 165b, or other display, … configured to display the image generated in response to the interference data collected with the probe”, ¶0153-¶0154 “In some situations, users prefer to control the data collection system from a location other than the patient bed or the control room… The monitor on the mobile terminal receives video data from a wireless video receiver”).
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 1-5, 10-15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adler as applied to claim 20 above and further in view of Mori [US 20150196285 A1].
As per claims 11-12, have limitations similar to claim 20, and is rejected over Adler in that, it teaches a system for generating a tomographic image of a luminal organ, comprising a catheter. Adler further teaches the catheter including an ultrasound transducer (Adler ¶0124 “ultrasound pulses P4 are generated by the transducer at the tip of the US imaging probe” Adler Fig 12/1C 150) that is configured to, upon receipt of a first electric signal, emit an ultrasound signal, receive a reflected ultrasound signal, and output a second electric signal corresponding to the reflected ultrasound signal (Adler ¶0086, “US refers to ultrasound such as an IVUS or other ultrasound-based data collection modality” Fig 12/1C signals from 122 A/B to items 150, ¶0128 “ These ultrasound electronics can be an ultrasound system that can be configured to perform one or more of the following: generating ultrasound pulses, receiving ultrasound signals returned from the sample” ); and
an apparatus configured to: transmit the first electric signal to the ultrasound transducer, and receive the second electric signal from the ultrasound transducer (Adler Fig 12/1C, items 135/145/120 together comprise an apparatus, including items 122A/B for O/E and E/O),
generate an ultrasound Adler Fig 1C, ¶0113-¶0014, generation and display of images by 134 to monitor 165A), and wirelessly transmit the generated ultrasound Adler ¶0081 “major optical connections are shown as solid lines, while electrical connections are shown as dashed lines. In one embodiment, an electrical connection can include a wireless or wired connection”, ¶0083 “monitors 165a, 165b, or other display, … configured to display the image generated in response to the interference data collected with the probe”, ¶0153-¶0154 “In some situations, users prefer to control the data collection system from a location other than the patient bed or the control room… The monitor on the mobile terminal receives video data from a wireless video receiver”).
Adler does not expressly recite generating an ultrasound tomographic image.
Mori, in a related field of (IVUS) and an optical coherence tomography (OCT) expressly recites generating an ultrasound tomographic image (Mori ¶0051 “a main body control unit which generates ultrasound data based on the reflected waves obtained by the measurement, and which generates an ultrasound tomographic image by processing line data generated based on the ultrasound data”, also see other sections like ¶078, ¶0108).
Mori, discusses that ultrasound tomography images may be generated in conjunction with OCT, for position correction and aligning different tomographic images and calibration (Mori ¶0007-¶0011). Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the apparatus in Adler to generate different tomograms for calibration and imaging for diagnosis purposes.
As per claims 1-2, they have limitation similar to claims 11-12 and are rejected for same reasons as above. Adler in view of Mori further teaches a first connector interface (Adler Fig 1C interface for item 150 from 120 ), a first circuit (Adler Fig 1C 122A /122B), a second circuit (Adler Fig 1C digitizer 135), a third circuit (Adler Fig 1C/12 item 445), and a second connector interface (Adler Fig 1C an interface for fiber 138 from 155 to item 120). Note, for these rejections, the term “connectable” is interpreted as capable of being connected.
As per claims 3, 13, Adler in view of Mori further teaches a fourth circuit configured to output a control signal for controlling an optical path length of reference light to the optical device (Adler Fig 2A, ¶0094 “reflective variable path length mirror (VPLM) 319”).
As per claims 4, 14, Adler in view of Mori further teaches wherein the second connector interface includes: a first connection portion to which a first signal line for controlling the optical device is connectable (Adler Fig 2A connection from 158-VPLM 319), a second connection portion to which an optical fiber for transmitting the measurement light and the reflected light is connectable (Adler Fig 1C/2A, connection from 317 to RA switch to fiber 138), and a third connection portion to which a second signal line for receiving the third electric signal is connected (Adler Fig 1C/2A connection from 328).
As per claims 5, 15, Adler in view of Mori further teaches wherein the first, second, and third connection portions are integrated into a single connector (Adler Fig 2A, Michelson’s interferometer comprises all the connections claimed and hence is a “single connector”).
As per claims 7, 17, Adler in view of Mori further teaches a housing having first and second surfaces (Adler Figs 1A, 1C item 120, ¶0081 “In one embodiment, the PIU dock 120 includes a housing”). Adler discusses block diagram in Figs 1A, 1C (and not actual physical implementations) and hence do not expressly recite or show surfaces that are opposite to each other, the first connector interface is disposed along the first surface, and the second connector interface is disposed along the second surface. However, the claim in obvious for the following reasons. Firstly, as per MPEP 2144.04.VI.C, rearrangement of parts is an obvious matter of design choice, since shifting the position of the connectors, anywhere on the PIM would not have modified the operation of the device. Further, the applicant does not provide any persuasive evidence in the specification that the particular configuration of the claimed container was significant. Secondly, Fig 1A of Adler (as well as Mori), suggests or provides a framework for how the PIM would be generally setup, i.e. one side facing a patient and other side facing a controller. Although the physical structure including sides are not shown, it would have been conceivable to provide connections on opposite sides, for convenience of use.
As per claim 10, Adler in view of Mori further teaches a motor for generating a rotational torque for rotating the ultrasound transducer inside the catheter (Adler Fig 1 item 161, ¶0128).
Claims 6, 8-9, 16, 18-19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adler in view of Mori as applied to claims 1, 4 above, and further in view of Hwang [US 20220203071 A1].
As per claims 6, 8-9, 16, 18-19, Adler in view of Mori further teaches wherein the second connector interface further includes a fourth connection portion to which a power supply line for receiving power from the optical device is connectable, and the apparatus further comprises: and a fifth circuit configured to supply, to the second circuit, either the power received from the optical device Adler ¶0132 “system power is provided by the imaging engine 145 to the PIU dock 120 and PIU 115, two additional electrical conductors … to supply power or transmit electrical signals. … one or more conductors can be used for electrical power transmission…”)
Adler in view of Mori does not expressly teach a battery, and a fifth circuit configured to supply power from the battery to the second circuit, or a fifth circuit configured to supply power received from an external source to the second circuit.
Hwang, related to medical equipment including IVUS and OCT (Hwang ¶0025), teaches a battery, and a fifth circuit configured to supply power from the battery to the second circuit, or a fifth circuit configured to supply power received from an external source to the second circuit (Hwang ¶0042 “The power source 107 can include a battery contained in the medical apparatus boo and can include an external power source such as line power or AC power from a power outlet that can interconnect with the medical apparatus 100 through an AC/DC adapter and a DC/DC converter…”).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the apparatus in Adler in view of Mori, by integrating battery and / or external power supply. The motivation would be to provide required power supply required by the optical engine 145 for running different processes.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OOMMEN JACOB whose telephone number is (571)270-5166. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00-4:00.
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/Oommen Jacob/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3797
