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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
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Claims 18-26, 28-32, and 34-37 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-7, 10 and 12-16 of U.S. Patent No. 12,551,117. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims of the current application is directed to the same claimed subject matter of U.S. Patent No. 12,551,117.See claim concordance below:
Current application
U.S. Patent No. 12,551,117
18. (New) An apparatus comprising: a device configured for monitoring blood pressure of a user at a single site on the user's body, the device including: at least one sensor configured to determine pulse information of the user from the site, and at least one sensor configured to determine heart sound information of the user from the site; wherein the at least one pulse information sensor and the at least one heart sound information sensor both form part of the device; at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine blood pressure information of the user based, at least in part, on the pulse information and the heart sound information.
19. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the at least one sensor configured to determine pulse information of the user includes a photoplethysmography sensor.
20. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the at least one sensor configured to determine heart sound information of the user includes an audio sensor.
1. An apparatus comprising: an ear-worn device, the ear-worn device including: at least one photoplethysmography sensor configured to determine pulse information of a user from an ear of the user, and at least one audio sensor configured to determine heart sound information of the user from an ear of the user, wherein the at least one photoplethysmography sensor and the at least one audio sensor both form part of the ear-worn device; at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine blood pressure information of the user based on the pulse information and the heart sound information.
21. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the at least one sensor configured to determine pulse information of the user is configured to be located against the skin of the user when the user is using or wearing the device.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ear-worn device is a device worn on and/or in at least one ear of the user.
22. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the device is configured to monitor blood pressure of a user at the single site on the user's body, the single site on the user's body being closer to the user's brain than the user's arms.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ear-worn device is a device worn on and/or in at least one ear of the user.
23. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transmit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transmit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
24. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
25. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 24, wherein the identifying of S1and S2 heart sounds comprises: identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; and identifying the S1 and S2 heart sounds based on a location of the systolic peak identified in the pulse information.
5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the identifying of S1 and S2 heart sounds comprises: identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; and identifying the S1 and S2 heart sounds based on a location of the systolic peak identified in the pulse information.
26. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the at least one sensor configured to determine pulse information of the user or the at least one sensor configured to determine heart sound information of the user are configured to operate at a sampling rate in the range 100 Hz to 9 kHz.
6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one photoplethysmography sensor and/or the at least one audio sensor are configured to operate at a sampling rate in the range 100 Hz to 9 kHz.
28. (New) An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: determine calibration information for the user and determine blood pressure of the user based, at least in part, on the blood pressure information and the calibration information.
7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to: determine calibration information for the user and determine blood pressure of the user based, at least in part, on the blood pressure information and the calibration information.
29. (New) A method comprising: determining pulse information of a user using at least one pulse information sensor; determining heart sound information of the user using at least one heart sound information sensor, wherein the pulse information sensor and the heart sound information sensor both form part of a device located at a single site on the user's body; and determining blood pressure information of the user based, at least in part, on the pulse information and the heart sound information.
10. A method comprising: determining pulse information of a user from an ear of the user using at least one photoplethysmography sensor comprised in an ear-worn device; determining heart sound information of the user from an ear of the user using at least one audio sensor comprised in the ear-worn device, wherein the at least one photoplethysmography sensor and the at least one audio sensor both form part of the ear-worn device; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the pulse information and the heart-sound information.
30. (New) A method as claimed in claim 29, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transmit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transmit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
31. (New) A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified Si heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified Si heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
16. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
32. (New) A method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the identifying of S1 and S2 heart sounds comprises: identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; and identifying the S1 and S2 heart sounds based on a location of the systolic peak identified in the pulse information.
Claims 1 and 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the identifying of S1 and S2 heart sounds comprises: identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; and identifying the S1 and S2 heart sounds based on a location of the systolic peak identified in the pulse information.
34. (New) A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform: determining pulse information of a user using at least one pulse information sensor; determining heart sound information of the user using at least one heart sound information sensor, wherein the pulse information sensor and the heart sound information sensor both form part of a device located at a single site on the user's body; and determining blood pressure information of the user based, at least in part, on the pulse information and the heart sound information.
13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform: determining pulse information of a user from an ear of a user using at least one photoplethysmography sensor comprised in an ear-worn device; determining heart sound information of the user from an ear of the user using at least one audio sensor comprised in the ear-worn device, wherein the at least one photoplethysmography sensor and the at least one audio sensor both form part of the ear-worn device; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the pulse information and the heart sound information.
35. (New) A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 34, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transmit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transmit time calculated as the time difference between the identified Si heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
14. A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 13, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
36. (New) A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 34 wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 13, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying an S2 heart sound in the heart sound information; calculating an ejection time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound; and determining blood pressure information of the user based on the ejection time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified S2 heart sound.
37. (New) A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 36, wherein the identifying of S1 and S2 heart sounds comprises: identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; and identifying the S1 and S2 heart sounds based on a location of the systolic peak identified in the pulse information.
14. A non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 13, wherein the determining of blood pressure information of the user comprises: identifying an S1 heart sound in the heart sound information; identifying a systolic peak in the pulse information; calculating a vascular transit time as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak; and determining the blood pressure information of the user based on the vascular transit time calculated as the time difference between the identified S1 heart sound and the identified systolic peak.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 27 and 33 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The additional prior art cited in the PTO 892 not relied upon discloses separate sensor devices used in order to determine the blood pressure by using a common processor to receive the information from both devices having said sensors.
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/DIXOMARA VARGAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3798
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