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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/brachytherapy-systems-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Radiotherapy EquipmentBrachytherapy Systems Patents: Filing Trends and Where the Field Is Concentrated
- 24.7% concentration at the top. The top 5 ranked assignees account for 361 of the 1,464 records in scope — a fifth-place holder still files 40, so the lead is real but not a monopoly.
- Filing is still climbing, not cooling. 2021 to 2024 (the last complete year) shows +28% growth, from 36 to 46 filings — read 2025 onward as still filling in, not falling.
- Electrotherapy claims dominate, but not exclusively. A61N covers 59.1% of records, yet A61K medicinal-preparation claims sit on 29.4% — brachytherapy patents are as much about payload chemistry as delivery hardware.
1,464
Published Records
25%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+28%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (36 records) with 2024 (46) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,464 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the brachytherapy systems patent record shows
Brachytherapy systems patents cover the hardware and methods for placing radioactive sources inside or next to tissue — afterloaders, applicators, catheter reconstruction, dose-gradient planning, and the radiation-protection measures that go with source exchange. This dataset spans 1,464 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026, drawn from a search string built around afterloader and radioactive-seed terminology paired with the technical vocabulary of dwell time, applicator design, and dose gradients.
The filing curve peaked in 2017 at 81 records and has settled into a lower but still-growing pattern since — the 2021-to-2024 window, the last stretch of years complete enough to compare, shows a 28% increase. Recent years understate true activity because publication trails filing by roughly 18 months, so the apparent tail-off after 2024 reflects the data pipeline, not a retreat from the field.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,464-record dataset: filing volume over time, and the IPC subclasses those records carry. Because a single record can be tagged with several classes, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
A peak in 2017, a growth phase since 2021
Filings peaked at 81 in 2017, dipped, then resumed growth: 36 filings in 2021 rose to 46 in 2024, a 28% increase over that span. Treat 2025–2026 figures as incomplete rather than declining, given the typical 18-month lag between filing and publication.
Electrotherapy claims lead, but medicinal preparations are close behind
A61N (electrotherapy and radiation therapy) appears on 59.1% of the 1,464 records, confirming this is fundamentally a delivery-hardware field. A61K (medicinal preparations, 29.4%) and A61B (diagnosis and surgery, 19.1%) show that source chemistry and image-guided placement are substantial secondary claim areas, not afterthoughts.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,464 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Brachytherapy Systems with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about brachytherapy systems and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
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Representative and most-cited filings
Representative Filing
System and apparatus for fast radioactive seed localization in intraoperative cone beam CT for prostate brachytherapy
MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER
This filing from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center describes locating radioactive seeds inside the body by combining two imaging modalities — typically CT and transrectal ultrasound — to determine seed position during low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy, with a seed implantation plan folded into the localization process.Published 2018-06-21. Abstract condensed from the original filing.
Most-cited records in the dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US8267849B2 | Radioactive therapeutic fastening instrument | 712 |
| 2 | US5851182A | Megavoltage radiation therapy machine combined to diagnostic imaging devices for cost efficient conventional … | 382 |
| 3 | US6261320B1 | Radioactive vascular liner | 295 |
| 4 | US20060100475A1 | Expandable brachytherapy device | 279 |
| 5 | US8092370B2 | Direct visualization robotic intra-operative radiation therapy applicator device | 276 |
| 6 | US20020183581A1 | Radiation or drug delivery source with activity gradient to minimize edge effects | 268 |
| 7 | US5391139A | Real time radiation treatment planning system | 260 |
| 8 | US8678990B2 | Radioactive therapeutic fastening instrument | 251 |
| 9 | US6251059B1 | Medical radiation treatment delivery apparatus | 247 |
| 10 | US4702228A | X-ray-emitting interstitial implants | 232 |
Citation counts accumulate over time and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence within this corpus, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against each other: where claim density sits, how fast the field is still moving, and which receiving offices matter for freedom-to-operate work.
Concentration
24.7%
of 1,464 records held by top 5 assignees
Leadership without lock-up
The top 5 assignees combine for 361 of the 1,464 records in scope, and the top 10 reach 535 (36.5%). A fifth-place holder still files only 40 records and tenth place just 30 — enough spread that a new entrant is not walking into a single dominant estate.
Based on the 100-company assignee ranking returned by the dataset.
Momentum
+28%
growth 2021→2024
Growth phase, not a plateau
Filing volume rose from 36 in 2021 to 46 in 2024, the last year complete enough to trust. Read the sharper-looking drop into 2025–2026 as a publication-lag artefact rather than a real slowdown.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months industry-wide.
Claim mix
59.1% / 29.4%
A61N vs A61K share of records
Hardware and chemistry both matter
A61N electrotherapy and radiation-therapy claims cover 59.1% of records, but A61K medicinal-preparation claims still reach 29.4% — nearly a third. Filing strategy that only watches delivery-hardware claims misses a substantial share of the active claim space.
Shares are of all 1,464 records; a record can carry multiple IPC classes.
Jurisdictions
520 US filings
vs 239 EPO, 227 WIPO
US-centred, but PCT routing is common
United States filings (520) outnumber the next receiving office roughly two to one, with EPO (239) and WIPO PCT (227) both substantial. Australia (81) and Canada (78) trail but are not negligible for applicators aimed at those markets.
Receiving-office counts from the dataset's jurisdiction breakdown.
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to brachytherapy systems, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders span academic medical centres, oncology-device makers, and diversified med-tech firms, with a long tail of single- or low-digit filers behind the top 10. Co-assignee activity is thin — only 10 pairs are recorded, and the strongest pair by far outweighs the rest, suggesting most work here is filed by a single owner rather than joint ventures.
Leader
125
records
A clear but not overwhelming leader
The top-ranked assignee holds 125 records, well ahead of fifth place at 40 and tenth at 30. That gap shows real specialisation at the top, but the drop-off after the leader is gradual rather than a cliff.
Counts are of patent families in the assignee ranking.
Collaboration
10 pairs
co-assignee relationships
Filing is mostly solo
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, and one pairing accounts for the large majority of that joint activity at 92 shared records. Most other filers are not co-patenting at all.
Pair counts from the co-assignee analysis.
Momentum check
0 in latest year
for several top assignees
Latest-year numbers understate activity
Several of the most active historical filers, including one showing a -100% YoY change, show zero filings in the latest year. Given the 18-month publication lag, this reflects pipeline timing more than an exit from the field.
Recent-year momentum figures by assignee.
Recent filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Temple University | 0 | — |
| Onconova Therapeutics Inc | 0 | — |
| Board of Regents, The University of Texas System | 0 | — |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | -100% |
| TomoTherapy Inc | 0 | — |
| OncoBeta International GmbH | 0 | — |
| XOFT INC | 0 | — |
| VOXEL RAD | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, white-space filing, or competitive tracking.
Check claim scope against the most-cited records
The five most-cited filings, including one at 712 citations, set the baseline prior art for seed fastening, expandable applicators, and image-guided delivery. Any new applicator or seed-placement claim should be checked against these first.
Explore key patents →Map the under-claimed sub-areas in detail
Catheter reconstruction imaging and non-prostate applicator design both sit inside classes that are active overall but thin on direct claims — worth a targeted search before committing R&D budget.
Run a deeper search in Eureka →Track the leader's next filings
With 125 records the top assignee is not slowing in the complete-year data, even though the latest-year snapshot reads as zero. A filing alert on this assignee catches the next wave before it publishes broadly.
Set up assignee tracking →Source: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about brachytherapy systems patents
The dataset ranks 100 assignees by patent family count, led by an assignee with 125 records, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 40 and tenth at 30. The top 5 combined account for 361 records, or 24.7% of the 1,464 records in scope, and the top 10 reach 36.5%. That spread means the field has a genuine leader but no single owner controls the space outright, so freedom-to-operate work needs to cover several assignees, not just the top name.
Filing peaked at 81 records in 2017 and has since settled into a lower but growing pattern: 2021 saw 36 filings, rising to 46 by 2024, a 28% increase over that span. The apparent decline in 2025 and 2026 is a data artefact, not a real slowdown — publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months, so the most recent one to two years are always undercounted at the point of any given data pull.
A61N, the electrotherapy and radiation-therapy classification, appears on 59.1% of the 1,464 records and is the clearest signal that this field is primarily about delivery hardware and dosing methods. A61K medicinal preparations (29.4%) and A61B diagnosis and surgery (19.1%) are substantial secondary areas, reflecting that seed chemistry and image-guided placement are both actively claimed alongside the delivery mechanics. Because records often carry multiple classes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Sub-areas that appear in the technology mix without dominating it include source-exchange radiation shielding, catheter reconstruction imaging methods, dose-gradient optimisation algorithms, and applicator designs aimed at sites beyond the prostate. These branches show enough activity to confirm technical relevance but not enough concentrated claim density to suggest the space is closed, making them reasonable starting points for a first claim rather than crowded prior art.
The United States receives the largest share of filings at 520, roughly double the next largest office. The European Patent Office (239) and WIPO's PCT route (227) are both substantial, indicating that many applicants pursue international protection rather than filing nationally only. Australia (81) and Canada (78) receive meaningfully fewer filings but remain relevant for applicants targeting those specific markets.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Brachytherapy Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.