Endoscopic POC Diagnostics Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- Filing has cooled since its 2020 peak. 39 families published that year against 784 total, with the 2022 midpoint at 31 and no recovery visible through the most recent partial year.
- Optical hardware still dominates the claim set. G02B optical elements appear in 223 records versus 90 for image processing (G06T) and 88 for video pictorial communication (H04N) — the imaging pipeline downstream of the lens is comparatively open.
- One family pair anchors the oldest, most-cited prior art. US20100145146A1 and US6835173B2 each carry over 1,500 citations, meaning any recording or robotic-endoscope claim is filed against a two-decade-old citation wall.
Filing growth compares 2021 (26 records) with 2024 (24) — 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 784 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks 784 patent families filed between 2015 and the 2026 cut-off, combining endoscope hardware claims with point-of-care diagnostic functions such as optical biopsy and in-vivo tissue characterisation. The search deliberately pairs a device term (endoscope, endoscopic device, endoscopy) with a diagnostic-function term in the title or claims, so the set is narrower than general endoscopy patenting and closer to the point where imaging hardware meets a clinical decision.
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the last one to two years in any trend chart will understate true filing activity; treat the tail as a floor, not a ceiling. The IPC composition below shows the field is still anchored in A61B diagnosis-and-surgery claims but draws heavily on optics (G02B) and, increasingly, image and data processing (G06T, G16H, G06F) — a signal that the diagnostic value is migrating from the optical path into software.
Filing trend and technology mix
Two views of the same 784-family set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how it splits across the IPC subclasses that make up the endoscopic point-of-care diagnostic stack.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 10 in 2017 to a peak of 39 in 2020, held near that level through 2022 (31), and have since declined into the partial 2026 count of 6 — consistent with a maturing rather than an emerging claim space.
IPC composition
A61B diagnosis-and-surgery claims cover the full 784-family set by construction of the search; G02B optical elements (223) is the largest secondary subclass, ahead of G06T image processing (90), H04N pictorial communication (88), G16H healthcare informatics (39), G01N material analysis (37), A61M body-fluid devices (33) and G06F digital data processing (24).
Shares are the percentage of the 784 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Endoscopic Device Point-of-Care Diagnostics with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about endoscopic device point-of-care diagnostics and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaFoundational and representative filings
Endoscopic diagnosis support method, apparatus and program (Olympus Medical Systems)
The filing describes extracting the endoscopic image most likely to show a bleeding region from a large set of captured images, by dividing each image into zones, calculating a tone from each zone's colour signal, and flagging zones whose tone differs enough from neighbouring zones to indicate bleeding.Abstract condensed from the original filing for readability.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20100145146A1 | Endoscopic digital recording system with removable screen and storage device | 1,577 |
| 2 | US6835173B2 | Robotic endoscope | 1,568 |
| 3 | US5662587A | Robotic endoscopy | 837 |
| 4 | US6174291B1 | Optical biopsy system and methods for tissue diagnosis | 611 |
| 5 | US6293911B1 | Fluorescent endoscope system enabling simultaneous normal light observation and fluorescence observation in i… | 463 |
| 6 | US20040186351A1 | Fluorescent endoscope system enabling simultaneous achievement of normal light observation based on reflected… | 361 |
| 7 | US7530948B2 | Tethered capsule endoscope for Barrett's Esophagus screening | 350 |
| 8 | US4649904A | Biopsy seal | 338 |
| 9 | US4651201A | Stereoscopic endoscope arrangement | 315 |
| 10 | US20080262312A1 | Shadowing pipe mosaicing algorithms with application to esophageal endoscopy | 314 |
Citation counts accumulate over time and favour older filings; read this table as a map of foundational prior art, not of current filing activity.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once family counts, IPC composition and citation data are read together.
The claim space is cooling, not accelerating
Filings peaked at 39 in 2020, held near 31 through the 2022 midpoint, and have fallen since. Combined with the 18-month publication lag, this points to a field where the core optical and hardware claims have largely been staked out rather than one still in a land-grab phase.
Optics is dense; the processing layer is thinner
G02B optical-element claims outnumber G06T image-processing claims by more than two to one, and G06F digital data processing sits at just 24 records. New filings aimed at the software and inference layer face less-crowded prior art than filings aimed at the optical path itself.
Recording and robotic-endoscope prior art sets the floor
The two most-cited records in the set, a digital-recording endoscope system and a robotic endoscope, each carry over 1,500 citations and predate most of the diagnostic-function filings here. Any claim touching image capture, storage or robotic articulation will be examined against this citation wall.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to endoscopic device point-of-care diagnostics, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space
Assignee activity is led by a small group of endoscope manufacturers, with academic and research assignees appearing mainly through single co-assigned filings rather than sustained portfolios.
Olympus Medical Systems is the only assignee still filing
Of the assignees tracked for recent-year momentum, only Olympus Medical Systems Corp. shows a filing in the latest year; Olympus Corporation, Fujifilm, Cornell Research Foundation, Fuji Photo Optical and SpectraSci all show zero, suggesting portfolio maintenance rather than active expansion for most named players.
Co-assignment is rare and mostly internal
Only three co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset. The strongest, linking Olympus Corporation and Olympus Medical Systems Corp. across five families, reflects internal corporate structure rather than external collaboration; the University of Washington pairs with individual named inventors on single filings each.
The US and Europe carry the bulk of filings
The United States (277) and the European Patent Office (199) together account for the majority of receiving-office activity, ahead of Japan (139), WIPO/PCT (46), China (32) and Australia (19) — a filing footprint concentrated in the jurisdictions with established endoscopy device manufacturers.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Olympus Medical Systems Corp. | 1 | — |
| Olympus Corporation | 0 | — |
| Fujifilm Corporation | 0 | — |
| Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. | 0 | — |
| Fuji Photo Optical Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| SPECTRASCI | 0 | — |
| Verily Life Sciences LLC | 0 | — |
| University of Washington | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The trend and assignee data point to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio benchmarking or identifying open filing territory.
Map claims against the citation wall
Before drafting around image-capture or robotic-articulation features, check claim scope against the two oldest highly-cited records in this set, since both predate most diagnostic-function filings and are likely to surface in any prior-art search.
Run a claim comparison in EurekaTrack the software migration
The gap between dense G02B optical claims and thinner G06F/G16H filings suggests diagnostic value is shifting toward processing and informatics; monitor filings in those subclasses for early signals of where competitors are moving next.
Set up a monitoring alert in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
This dataset identifies 784 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine an endoscope or endoscopic device term with a point-of-care diagnostic function such as optical biopsy or in-vivo diagnosis. The true figure filed to date is likely somewhat higher, because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months and the most recent one to two years are undercounted. Family counts, rather than raw document counts, are the more reliable measure since they neutralise duplicate filings across jurisdictions for the same invention.
No, the data shows a peak of 39 families in 2020, a plateau near 31 in 2022, and a decline into the low single digits for the most recent partial year. Even accounting for publication lag understating the latest year, the multi-year plateau and drop from peak indicate a field where core claims have been substantially staked out rather than one in an active growth phase. New entrants should expect denser prior art in optical and hardware claims than in software or informatics claims.
Olympus, through both its parent corporation and its Olympus Medical Systems subsidiary, is the most visible sustained filer in this dataset, including the only assignee still showing a filing in the latest tracked year. Fujifilm, Fuji Photo Optical, Cornell Research Foundation and SpectraSci also appear among named assignees, though their recent-year momentum is flat. Co-assignment across organisations is rare, with only three co-assignee pairs identified in the entire set.
EP1897483A1, filed by Olympus Medical Systems Corp., describes a method and apparatus for automatically identifying which endoscopic image out of a large captured set shows a bleeding region, by dividing each image into zones, calculating a colour tone per zone, and flagging zones whose tone diverges from their neighbours. It is a diagnosis-support method rather than a hardware claim, meaning it constrains software approaches to automated bleeding detection based on zone-wise tone comparison specifically. Alternative detection approaches that do not rely on zone-based tone differencing, such as full-image spectral classification or machine-learning segmentation, sit outside its literal claim scope.
The IPC composition shows a heavy concentration in optical elements (G02B, 223 records) relative to digital data processing (G06F, 24) and healthcare informatics (G16H, 39), suggesting the software and interoperability layers built on top of endoscopic imaging are comparatively under-claimed. Material analysis integration (G01N, 37) and body-fluid device co-claims (A61M, 33) are similarly thin relative to the core 784-family set. These are the branches worth checking first for freedom-to-operate before assuming the space is closed.
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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.