Cardiac Tissue Engineering Patent Snapshot 2026
Cardiac tissue engineering is a small, academically concentrated field — 35 patent families spread across research institutions across Europe, North America, and East Asia, with no single commercial incumbent dominating. Annual filing volume peaked around 2018 and has since eased, signaling a field past its initial surge and in need of fresh technical stimulus or translational investment.
Academic institutions lead a fragmented, low-volume space
The top-ranked applicant, Institut Quimic de Sarria, ties with Technion Research & Development Foundation and Assoc Cardio Monde, each recording 9 patent records — a flat top tier that reflects the broad academic ownership of this space rather than a clear industrial champion.
The top five filers collectively account for 22% of the ranked applicants visible in this query’ combined total, indicating moderate concentration at the head of the ranking but a long tail of single-institution filers. The gap between the third and fourth positions is only one record, confirming that leadership here is not entrenched.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Institut Quimic de Sarria | 9 | |
| 2 | TECHNION RES & DEV FOUND LTD | 9 | |
| 3 | Association Cardiologie Monde | 9 | |
| 4 | University of Manchester | 8 | |
| 5 | Techas Avanzadas Inspiralia | 8 | |
| 6 | Institut de Chimie Macromoleculaire Petru Poni | 8 | |
| 7 | Universitat Politecnica de Valencia | 7 | |
| 8 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 5 | |
| 9 | The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York | 5 | |
| 10 | Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences | 4 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | McGill University | 4 | |
| 12 | Ohio State Innovation Foundation | 4 | |
| 13 | Jaconi Marisa E E | 4 | |
| 14 | Zammaretti Schaer Prisca | 4 | |
| 15 | Fundacio Institut d’Investigacio en Ciencies de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol | 4 | |
| 16 | Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences | 4 | |
| 17 | Inje University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 4 | |
| 18 | Ewha Womans University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 3 | |
| 19 | ETH Zurich | 3 | |
| 20 | University of Geneva | 3 |
The dominance of universities and research foundations — rather than device companies or biopharma — implies that most foundational intellectual property remains in academic hands, creating licensing or partnering opportunities for companies seeking to commercialize scaffold, cell-delivery, or biomaterial approaches.
Filing counts for 2024–2025 should be treated as preliminary given standard publication lag; the apparent low volume in those years does not necessarily represent a further structural decline. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
A 2018 peak, a biomaterial-heavy technology mix, and sparse adjacent branches
The annual filing chart and the IPC composition chart together reveal where activity concentrated historically and which technology directions remain underworked.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings peaked at 8 records in 2018, dropped to zero in 2019, recovered modestly through 2021, and have remained at low single digits since 2022. Data for 2024 and 2025 are subject to publication lag and should not be read as confirmed further decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
Biomaterial and cell-biology classes are visible in: A61L (sterilising and scaffold materials) and C12N (microorganisms and genetic engineering) each account for 76 records, followed by A61K (medicinal preparations) at 64. Lower-share classes such as A61F (implants and prostheses), A61B (diagnosis and surgery), B33Y (additive manufacturing), and C12M (bioreactors) represent much thinner coverage and may warrant attention for applicants seeking less-crowded entry points.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Energetic three-dimensional artificial cardiac pat…
In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method for fabricating a three-dimensional artificial cardiac patch construct. In some embodiments, such method includes the steps of coating a substrate with an organic polymer; allowing the organic polymer coating to air dry; mounting anchors on the organic polymer coating; and sterilizing the organic… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angiogenesis and cardiac tissue engineering with p… | 138 |
| 2 | Aligned scaffolds for improved myocardial regenera… | 97 |
| 3 | Natural tissue-derived decellularized matrix and m… | 93 |
| 4 | Aligned scaffolds for improved myocardial regenera… | 66 |
| 5 | Angiogenesis and cardiac tissue engineering with p… | 58 |
| 6 | Autologous marrow stem cell (MSC) transplantation … | 40 |
| 7 | Aligned scaffolds for improved myocardial regenera… | 37 |
| 8 | Aligned scaffolds for improved myocardial regenera… | 37 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Institut Quimic de Sarria
Tied at 9 patent records, Institut Quimic de Sarria is the top-ranked applicant. Its co-applicant role in the Sarria cluster is not separately detailed in evidence, but its position reflects activity in the biomaterial scaffold space consistent with the visible A61L and C12N branches. No individual momentum figure is available.
patent records: 9University of Manchester
The University of Manchester holds 8 patent records and is the most connected node in the collaboration network, co-filing with both Techas Avanzadas Inspiralia and Institut de Chimie Macromoleculaire Petru Poni (8 records each pairing). Its technology focus centers on A61L 27 (scaffold materials for tissue engineering), making it the primary biomaterial-scaffold hub in the corpus. No individual momentum figure is available.
patent records: 8Frequently asked questions
The corpus contains 35 patent families in scope. This is a small, specialist field relative to broader regenerative medicine or cardiovascular device categories.
Institut Quimic de Sarria, Technion Research & Development Foundation, and Assoc Cardio Monde are jointly ranked first, each with 9 patent records.
Annual filing volume peaked at 8 records in 2018 and has eased since, classifying the field as post-peak. However, recent years (2024–2025) carry publication lag and should not be read as a confirmed further decline. The field is not dormant but is no longer in its initial growth surge.
Biomaterial scaffolding (A61L) and cell biology/genetic engineering (C12N) each account for 76 patent records, making them the core technology directions. Medicinal preparations (A61K) follow at 64 records.
The United States leads with 38 patent records, followed by WIPO (PCT) at 25 and the EPO at 19. This US-PCT-EPO combination is the visible prosecution pathway, with India, Australia, Japan, China, and South Korea each having modest single-digit coverage.
Yes. Additive manufacturing (B33Y) has only 2 patent records in the corpus, and implants and prostheses (A61F) has 9 — both substantially lower than the visible A61L and C12N classes. Diagnosis and surgery (A61B) and material analysis (G01N) each have only 3 records. These are observations of relative sparsity; a thorough freedom-to-operate and prior-art search would be needed before drawing investment conclusions.
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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.
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