Atrial Fibrillation Detection Patents: Leaders & Filing Trends 2026
Atrial Fibrillation Detection Algorithm Patents: Who Holds the Ground and Where It Is Still Open
Filing activity peaked in 2018 at 15 records and has since cooled, with the 2021-to-2024 span down 57% — a maturing claim set rather than a growing one. Filings ran from 2 records in 2017 up to a peak of 15 in 2018, then eased. The clearest recent comparison the data supports is 2021 (7 records) against 2024 (3 records), a 57% decline over that span. That is a genuine cooling in a field that had already built out its core claim set, not a data artefact — though 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming further decline.
- 1PACESETTER INC41
- 2MEDTRONIC INC41
- 3M I R SPA8
- 4TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD3
- 5KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV3
See the full atrial fibrillation detection algorithms analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions on this landscape
Who holds the most patents in atrial fibrillation detection algorithms?
One assignee leads this dataset with 41 records, far ahead of the rest of the ranked field, where fifth place holds only 3 records and tenth place holds 2. That gap indicates a single company built a broad early portfolio around implantable-device arrhythmia detection, while most other filers hold only a handful of related patents. Anyone assessing competitive risk in this space should treat that leader’s portfolio, particularly its highly-cited R-wave and episode-profiling filings, as the primary block to clear.
Is filing activity in AFib detection algorithms growing or slowing?
Filing peaked in 2018 at 15 records in this dataset and has pulled back since; the clearest recent comparison, 2021 against 2024, shows a 57% decline. That decline reflects a field where the foundational detection logic — R-wave and premature ventricular contraction detection, episode profiling — was largely claimed by the mid-2010s. Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts in any dataset will still be filling in, so a slower apparent pace in those years should not be read as confirmed further decline.
What patent classes cover atrial fibrillation detection technology?
The dominant classes are A61B (diagnosis and surgery), present in 69.5% of the 105 records in this dataset, and A61N (electrotherapy and radiation therapy), present in 45.7%. Healthcare informatics under G16H appears in 12.4% of records, while pure software classes such as G06N for AI models sit at only 1.0%. This mix shows most detection-algorithm claims are drafted as part of a diagnostic or therapy device rather than as standalone software methods, which matters for how broadly a software-only classifier claim can be drafted.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Atrial Fibrillation Detection Algorithms covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.