Medical technologies incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) are an emerging area of innovation with the potential to transform healthcare. Employing techniques such as machine learning, deep learning and natural language processing,1 AI enables machine-based systems that can make predictions, recommendations or decisions that influence real or virtual environments based on a given set of objectives.2 For example, AI-based medical systems can collect medical data, analyze medical data and assist in medical treatment, or provide informed recommendations or decisions.3 According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), some key areas in which AI are applied in medical devices include: 4
- Image acquisition and processing
- Diagnosis, prognosis, and risk assessment
- Early disease detection
- Identification of new patterns in human physiology and disease progression
- Development of personalized diagnostics
- Therapeutic treatment response monitoring
Patent filing data related to these application areas can help us see emerging trends.
Table of contents
- Analysis strategy
- What has been filed over the years?
- What do the annual numbers tell us?
- Where is R&D happening?
- Where are the destination markets?
- Takeaways
Analysis strategy
We identified nine subcategories of interest:
- Image acquisition and processing
- Medical image acquisition
- Pre-processing of medical imaging
- Pattern recognition and classification for image-based diagnosis
- Diagnosis, prognosis and risk management
- Early disease detection
- Identification of new patterns in physiology and disease
- Development of personalized diagnostics and medicine
- Therapeutic treatment response monitoring
- Clinical workflow management
- Surgical planning/implants
We searched patent filings in each subcategory from 2001 to 2023. In the results below, the number of patent filings are based on patent families, each patent family being a collection of patent documents covering the same technology, which have at least one priority document in common.5
What has been filed over the years?
The number of patents filed in each subcategory of AI-assisted applications for medical technologies from 2001 to 2023 is shown below.
We see that patenting activities are concentrating in the areas of treatment response monitoring, identification of new patterns in physiology and disease, clinical workflow management, pattern recognition and classification for image-based diagnosis, and development of personalized diagnostics and medicine. This suggests that research and development efforts are focused on these areas.
What do the annual numbers tell us?
Let’s look at the annual number of patent filings for the categories and subcategories listed above. The following four graphs show the global patent filing trends over time for the categories of AI-assisted medical technologies related to: image acquisition and processing; diagnosis, prognosis and risk management; treatment response monitoring; and workflow management.
When looking at the patent filings on an annual basis, the numbers confirm the expected significant uptick in patenting activities in recent years for all categories searched. They also show that, within the four categories, the subcategories showing the fastest rate of growth were: pattern recognition and classification for image-based diagnosis, identification of new patterns in human physiology and disease, treatment response monitoring, and clinical workflow management.
Above: Global patent filing trends over time for categories of AI-assisted medical technologies related to image acquisition and processing.
Above: Global patent filing trends over time for categories of AI-assisted medical technologies related to more accurate diagnosis, prognosis and risk management.
Above: Global patent filing trends over time for AI-assisted medical technologies related to treatment response monitoring.
Above: Global patent filing trends over time for categories of AI-assisted medical technologies related to workflow management.
Where is R&D happening?
By looking at where the inventors are located, we can see where R&D activities are occurring. We found that the two most frequent inventor locations are the United States (50.3%) and China (26.2%). Both Australia and Canada are amongst the ten most frequent inventor locations, with Canada ranking seventh and Australia ranking ninth in the five subcategories that have the highest patenting activities from 2001-2023.
Where are the destination markets?
The filing destinations provide a clue as to the intended markets or locations of commercial partnerships. The United States (30.6%) and China (29.4%) again are the pace leaders. Canada is the seventh most frequent destination jurisdiction with 3.2% of patent filings. Australia is the eighth most frequent destination jurisdiction with 3.1% of patent filings.
Takeaways
Our analysis found that the leading subcategories of AI-assisted medical technology patent applications from 2001 to 2023 include treatment response monitoring, identification of new patterns in human physiology and disease, clinical workflow management, pattern recognition and classification for image-based diagnosis as well as development of personalized diagnostics and medicine.
In more recent years, we found the fastest growth in the areas of pattern recognition and classification for image-based diagnosis, identification of new patterns in human physiology and disease, treatment response monitoring, and clinical workflow management, suggesting that R&D efforts are being concentrated in these areas.
We saw that patent filings in the areas of early disease detection and surgical/implant monitoring increased later than the other categories, suggesting these may be emerging areas of growth.
Although, as expected, the United States and China are consistently the leading jurisdictions in both inventor location and destination patent offices, Canada and Australia are frequently in the top ten.
Patent intelligence provides powerful tools for decision makers in looking at what might be shaping our future. With recent geopolitical changes and policy updates in key primary markets, as well as shifts in trade relationships, patent filings give us insight into how these aspects impact innovation. For everyone, it provides exciting clues as to what emerging technologies may shape our lives.
The preceding is intended as a timely update on Canadian intellectual property and technology law. The content is informational only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. To obtain such advice, please communicate with our offices directly.
References
1. Alowais et.al., Revolutionizing healthcare: the role of artificial intelligence in clinical practice (2023), BMC Medical Education, 23:689.
2. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Software as a Medical Device.
3. Bitkina et.al., Application of artificial intelligence in medical technologies: a systematic review of main trends (2023), Digital Health, 9:1-15.
4. Artificial Intelligence Program: Research on AI/ML-Based Medical Devices | FDA.
5. INPADOC extended patent family.
