CGM Biocompatible Sensor Membrane Patent Landscape
The CGM biocompatible sensor membrane space is heavily concentrated, with Medtronic MiniMed commanding the dominant position among the top filers and the United States serving as the primary filing jurisdiction. The field has reached a mature phase with annual volumes plateaued near their 2018 peak, while adjacent branches in healthcare informatics and AI-based sensing remain comparatively sparse.
Medtronic MiniMed leads a highly concentrated field
Medtronic MiniMed Inc holds the top-ranked position with 110 patent records, far ahead of the second-ranked Allez Health Inc at 12 patent records and third-ranked Suzhou Zhongxing Medical Tech Co Ltd at 9 patent records.
The top five filers together account for 80% of the combined total across the hundred largest filers, indicating an unusually steep concentration where a single incumbent holds more than an order-of-magnitude lead over the nearest challenger.
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medtronic MiniMed Inc | 110 | |
| 2 | Allez Health Inc | 12 | |
| 3 | Suzhou Zhongxing Medical Tech Co Ltd | 9 | |
| 4 | Willow Lab Inc | 7 | |
| 5 | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | 5 | |
| 6 | King Saud University | 3 | |
| 7 | National University of Singapore | 3 | |
| 8 | The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois | 2 | |
| 9 | NAT TAIWAN UNIV OF SCI & TECH | 2 | |
| 10 | Hodge William Gerald | 2 |
| # | Applicant | Patent records | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Ascensia Diabetes Care Holdings AG | 1 | |
| 12 | Graphic Era Deemed to be University | 1 | |
| 13 | MS Yuganti Nitinrao Belsare | 1 | |
| 14 | MS Aastha Balkrushna Padawe | 1 | |
| 15 | MS Trupti Arun Nimburkar | 1 | |
| 16 | Medicaps University | 1 | |
| 17 | MS Nikita Prabhakar Shahane | 1 | |
| 18 | MS Nisha Harish Varandani | 1 | |
| 19 | The University of Hong Kong | 1 | |
| 20 | TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY | 1 |
This structural imbalance means that Medtronic MiniMed’s portfolio effectively sets the technical baseline for the field; challengers and new entrants must either differentiate on adjacent technology routes or navigate around a dense core of clinical sensing and electrochemical detection claims.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are subject to publication lag and will increase as applications are published; rankings and trends for 2024–2026 should be read as provisional. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Activity peaked in 2018; technology mix is dominated by clinical sensing with informatics emerging
The annual filing trend reveals a field that surged to its high point in 2018 and has since settled into a lower, fluctuating plateau, while the technology composition shows a core of clinical diagnosis classes supplemented by growing but still sparse informatics and AI branches.
Annual filing trend
Filings spiked in 2018 at 27 patent records and have ranged between 7 and 17 in subsequent years; the 2024–2026 bars are understated due to publication lag and should not be read as a further decline. The multi-year recent growth window remains positive at 19%, consistent with a field that is still active on a broader horizon even though annual volume has eased from its 2018 peak.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
A61B (Diagnosis and surgery) is the dominant branch with 161 records, followed by G01N (Material analysis and testing) at 63 and A61M (Devices for body fluids) at 41; G16H (Healthcare informatics) and G06N (AI-based computing) are present but small, flagging these as under-served relative to the clinical core.
↗ 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.
A minimally swellable biocompatible membrane and p…
The present invention relates to a biocompatible membrane, specifically to a minimally swellable biocompatible membrane and the preparation method thereof. The preparation method of the minimally swellable biocompatible membrane comprises the following steps: synthesis of a copolymer containing a skeleton and a hydrophilic group, the introduction of a… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Contact lens integrated with a biosensor for the d… | 231 |
| 2 | Orthogonally Redundant Sensor Systems and Methods | 230 |
| 3 | Methods, systems, and devices for calibration and … | 61 |
| 4 | Use of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS… | 56 |
| 5 | Contact lens integrated with a biosensor for the d… | 51 |
| 6 | Use of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS… | 44 |
| 7 | Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy enabled con… | 43 |
| 8 | Methods, systems, and devices for continuous gluco… | 42 |
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.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of high concentration, a maturing filing curve, and sparse adjacent branches creates a specific risk-reward map for teams evaluating entry or expansion in this space.
Field has plateaued near its 2018 peak
The lifecycle stage is classified as Maturity, with annual filings having plateaued near their 2018 high of 27 patent records. The multi-year recent growth of 19% indicates residual momentum, but the absence of a sustained upward trend in annual counts signals that the foundational membrane and electrochemical sensing claims are largely staked. New entrants should expect dense prior art in the core A61B and G01N spaces and focus differentiation effort on adjacent branches.
Lifecycle: MatureSingle incumbent holds an outsized lead
The top five filers account for 80% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, and Medtronic MiniMed alone holds 110 patent records against the next challenger’s 12. This tier gap is wide enough that a new entrant is unlikely to displace the leader through volume alone; freedom-to-operate analysis against Medtronic MiniMed’s portfolio, particularly in A61B5 and A61M5, is a prerequisite before committing to clinical development. Challengers Allez Health and Suzhou Zhongxing entered recently, signaling that targeted entry remains viable.
High concentrationKing Saud University and National University of Singapore are the only confirmed co-filers
The evidence shows one documented co-filing relationship: King Saud University and the National University of Singapore collaborated on 3 patent records. No industry-to-industry or industry-to-academia co-filing networks are evident beyond this pair. The sparse collaboration footprint suggests the field is largely driven by proprietary in-house programs rather than open-innovation consortia, which may create partnership opportunities for academic groups with novel membrane chemistries.
Low collaboration densityUnited States dominates; Europe and Asia-Pacific are secondary
The United States leads with 90 patent records, reflecting both Medtronic MiniMed’s home jurisdiction and the broader weight of US regulatory and commercial incentives for CGM. Europe (EPO) has 18 records, Australia and Canada each have 15, and WIPO PCT filings stand at 12. China has only 7 records despite hosting Suzhou Zhongxing as a growing filer, which may indicate an early-stage Chinese domestic filing strategy or a lag in PCT entries into China.
US-centric, limited Asia filingGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| King Saud University | National University of Singapore | 3 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Medtronic MiniMed leads on clinical sensing breadth; Allez Health and Suzhou Zhongxing are new entrants with focused profiles
The ranking is defined by one dominant incumbent and a second tier of recently emerged challengers, each with a narrower technical scope.
Medtronic MiniMed Inc
Medtronic MiniMed holds 110 patent records and concentrates its portfolio across A61B5 (Diagnosis and surgery, 108 records), A61M5 (Devices for body fluids, 38 records), and G01N27 (Material analysis and testing, 34 records), reflecting a full-stack approach that spans sensor design, drug delivery integration, and electrochemical detection. Its recent filing momentum shows a 13% decline versus the prior period, consistent with a portfolio transitioning from aggressive build-out toward selective reinforcement in a mature field.
110 patent recordsAllez Health Inc
Allez Health Inc holds 12 patent records, all concentrated in A61B5, and entered the ranking as a new entrant with 10 recent records, indicating a fast ramp from a small prior base. Suzhou Zhongxing Medical Tech Co Ltd, with 9 patent records, is also a new entrant and distributes its activity across A61B5, G01N27, and B01D71 (Separation processes and filtration), suggesting a membrane materials differentiation strategy that partially avoids the core clinical sensing cluster dominated by Medtronic MiniMed.
12 patent records| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc | 20 | ▼ -13% |
| Allez Health Inc | 10 | ▲ new entrant |
| Suzhou Zhongxing Medical Tech Co Ltd | 5 | ▲ new entrant |
Healthcare informatics and AI-based sensing are under-served relative to the clinical core
The following branches appear at low patent-record counts relative to the dominant clinical sensing classes and represent areas where the existing IP footprint is thin; their technical relevance to next-generation CGM warrants attention, but they should be evaluated as observations of relative sparsity rather than confirmed commercial opportunities.
G16H · Healthcare informatics
With 20 patent records, G16H is present but accounts for only 6% of the technology composition, low for a branch directly relevant to CGM data integration, remote monitoring, and closed-loop insulin delivery workflows. The plausible entry path is software-layer claims that combine sensor output with clinical decision support, an area where medical device software firms and digital health companies may have lower freedom-to-operate friction than in the hardware-dominated A61B core. Any entrant should verify the specific claim scope of existing G16H records before committing.
Search this in Eureka →G06N · Computing based on AI models
G06N holds 17 patent records and represents 5% of the composition, despite AI-based calibration, drift correction, and anomaly detection being technically applicable to biocompatible sensor membrane performance. The sparse filing count suggests that AI-membrane integration at the patent level remains early-stage, offering a potential differentiation angle for teams combining novel membrane chemistry with on-device inference. Entry path viability depends on whether existing A61B5 claims already capture embedded signal-processing steps; a freedom-to-operate review of the top-cited Medtronic MiniMed EIS-related patents is advisable.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | A61B 5 · Diagnosis & surgery | G01N 27 · Material analysis & testing | A61M 5 · Devices for body fluids | G16H 40 · Healthcare informatics | G06N 5 · Computing based on AI models |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medtronic MiniMed Inc | Strong · 108 | Moderate · 34 | Moderate · 38 | Emerging · 17 | Emerging · 16 |
| Suzhou Zhongxing Medical Tech Co Ltd | Strong · 9 | Strong · 6 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Allez Health Inc | Strong · 12 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| Metronome Health Inc | Strong · 10 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Strong · 5 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| National University of Singapore | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| King Saud University | Absent | Strong · 3 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The analysis covers 108 patent families in scope for CGM biocompatible sensor membrane technology.
Medtronic MiniMed Inc is the top-ranked filer with 110 patent records, a position far ahead of the second-ranked Allez Health Inc at 12 patent records.
The field is classified as Maturity. Annual filings have plateaued near their 2018 peak, and while the multi-year recent growth window is positive at 19%, the sustained upward trend in annual counts that characterizes a growth-stage field is absent.
The United States leads with 90 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 18, Australia and Canada each at 15, and WIPO PCT at 12. China has 7 records, relatively low given the presence of a Chinese domestic filer (Suzhou Zhongxing) in the top three.
The only confirmed co-filing relationship in evidence is between King Saud University and the National University of Singapore, who jointly filed 3 patent records. No industry-to-industry or broader industry-academia collaboration networks are documented in this dataset.
G16H (Healthcare informatics) at 20 patent records and G06N (AI-based computing) at 17 patent records are the largest under-served branches relative to the dominant A61B class. Both are technically relevant to next-generation CGM but remain sparse, making them worth monitoring as potential differentiation areas, subject to freedom-to-operate review against existing core claims.
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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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