The medical devices industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation. Activity is driven by increased need for homecare, preventative treatments, early diagnosis, reducing patient recovery times and improving outcomes, as well as a growing importance in technologies such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitalisation. In the last three years alone, there have been over 230,000 patents filed and granted in the medical devices industry., according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial Intelligence in Medical Devices: AI-assisted CT imaging. Buy the report here.

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According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 165,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the medical devices industry, there are 35+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

AI-assisted CT imaging is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted computer tomography (CT) imaging has the potential to enhance the utility of traditional CT imaging by automatically diagnosing changes in organ features as an indication of disease, and to use as a true diagnostic tool to relate features to specific diseases. This greatly helps the radiologist and other clinicians to interpret images, which allows them to provide more accurate and timely diagnoses and improve patient outcomes.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies.  According to GlobalData, there are 180+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established medical devices companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of AI-assisted CT imaging.

Key players in AI-assisted CT imaging – a disruptive innovation in the medical devices industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Patent volumes related to AI-assisted CT imaging

Koninklijke Philips is one of the leading patent filers in AI-assisted CT imaging. Other key patent filers in the medical device sector include Canon, Nuctech Company, General Electric, and Fujifilm.

In terms of application diversity, Thermo Fisher Scientific leads the pack, followed by Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Canon, and Elekta, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Elekta leads the pack, followed by Mitutoyo and OSI Systems.

The AI era is providing rapid advances within diagnostic imaging. AI assisted analysis of CT images removes compromise of speed and image resolution that was found previously and will address the mounting workflow pressures found within diagnostic images, pressures that are mounting as the radiologist workforce reduces. Improved and faster diagnostic imaging will allow the modality to work hand in hand with other diagnostic approaches, such as in vitro diagnostics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, computer-assisted CT imaging proved to be invaluable in identifying COVID-19 cases, as the gold standard PCR test failed to identify even all symptomatic cases.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the medical devices industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Medical Devices.

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.