Prior art — US Patent 11484284

Prior Art Analysis for US Patent 11,484,284

Based on the patent file wrapper for US patent 11,484,284, the following prior art references were cited by the USPTO examiner during prosecution. An analysis of each reference and its potential impact on the patent's claims is detailed below.

1. WO2004035137A1: Acoustic cardiac assessment

Full Citation: Gavriely, Noam. "Acoustic cardiac assessment." World Intellectual Property Organization, Publication No. WO2004035137A1.
Publication Date: April 29, 2004 (Filing Date: October 21, 2002)
Brief Description: This international patent application describes a method and system for the acoustic assessment of cardiac function. It discloses recording heart sounds and analyzing their features, such as frequency and timing, to detect cardiac abnormalities. The system can analyze the S1 and S2 heart sounds and correlate acoustic parameters with physiological conditions of the heart. The stated purpose is to provide a non-invasive diagnostic tool.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Claim 1: This reference appears to disclose several key elements of claim 1, including a device for recording heart sounds (a phonocardiogram recording device), a processor for analyzing the signal, and the extraction of acoustic features from segments of the heart sound. The core concept of using acoustic analysis for cardiac assessment is central to this prior art. However, WO2004035137A1 does not explicitly teach or suggest the use of an unsupervised machine learning process to group heart sounds according to a disease stage, nor does it recommend a specific list of anti-remodeling therapies based on the deviation of acoustic features. These appear to be the novel elements of claim 1.
- Claim 17: Similar to its impact on claim 1, this reference discloses the foundational elements of recording and analyzing heart sounds. It does not, however, detail the specific segmentation technique using a "sum of squares error" between envelopes of a region of interest (ROI), nor the use of principal component analysis to identify eigenvalues, or a k-means clustering algorithm for unsupervised learning. Furthermore, it does not disclose a "treatment system" that administers a compound based on the analysis. Therefore, it does not anticipate the more detailed and specific combination of features recited in claim 17.

2. US20080001735A1: Mesh network personal emergency response appliance

Full Citation: Tran, Bao. "Mesh network personal emergency response appliance." United States Patent Application Publication No. US20080001735A1.
Publication Date: January 3, 2008 (Filing Date: June 30, 2006)
Brief Description: This patent application describes a wearable personal emergency response system that can monitor various physiological signs of a user, including heart rate. The system is designed to detect an emergency and automatically send an alert. It mentions the capability to monitor heart sounds via a device that can be worn by the user. The primary focus is on the emergency alert and communication network aspects.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Claim 1 & 17: This reference is relevant in that it discloses a wearable device for monitoring physiological signals, which could include heart sounds. The concept of a wearable phonocardiogram recording device as mentioned in claim 9 (dependent on claim 1) and specified in claim 17 is touched upon. However, the core of the invention in US 11,484,284 is the detailed processing of the heart sound signals—specifically, the segmentation method, the extraction of detailed acoustic features (like power spectral density and eigenvalues), the use of unsupervised machine learning for classification, and the recommendation of specific therapies. US20080001735A1 does not teach these specific signal processing and diagnostic/therapeutic steps. Its focus is on the hardware and network for emergency alerts, not the nuanced analysis of heart sounds for early disease detection. Therefore, it does not anticipate the claims of US 11,484,284.

3. US20140364945A1: Annuloplasty device

Full Citation: "Annuloplasty device." Lc Therapeutics, Inc. United States Patent Application Publication No. US20140364945A1.
Publication Date: December 11, 2014 (Filing Date: June 5, 2013)
Brief Description: This patent application is directed to a medical device, specifically an annuloplasty device used for repairing heart valves, particularly the mitral valve. The disclosure is focused on the mechanical structure and implantation of the device to treat valve regurgitation.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Claim 1 & 17: This reference is cited as general background art related to heart valve disease and its treatment. It describes a treatment for a heart valve condition but does not disclose any method or system for the diagnosis of such conditions using heart sound analysis. The subject matter of this reference is entirely different from the claimed invention in US 11,484,284. It does not involve phonocardiograms, signal processing, acoustic feature extraction, or machine learning. Consequently, this reference does not anticipate any of the claims of US 11,484,284. It was likely cited to provide context for the problem that the invention of US 11,484,284 aims to solve (i.e., the need for early detection to avoid invasive procedures like those described in this reference).