Flow Diverter Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Concentrated at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 254 of 499 records in scope (50.9%), and the top 10 hold 346 (69.3%) – a narrow group has shaped most of the claim territory.
- Filing peaked in 2022. Annual filings rose to 49 in 2022 before easing to 25 by 2024, a -34% move over that three-year span; 2025-2026 figures are still filling in due to publication lag.
- Coverage and sterilization claims dominate. A61B (diagnosis & surgery) and A61F (implants & prostheses) cover 54.1% and 41.9% of records respectively, while polymer composition claims (C08L) sit at just 3.2%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (38 records) with 2024 (25) — 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 499 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the dataset covers
This landscape draws on 499 published records matching flow diverter and aneurysm embolization terms combined with device-performance concepts such as porosity coverage, stent apposition, endothelialization, antiplatelet regimen and occlusion rate. The scope spans filings from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with the assignee ranking covering 85 companies counted by patent family rather than raw document count, which reduces distortion from continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
Records concentrate around three functional layers: the mechanical frame and delivery system (A61B, A61F), surface treatment and sterilization processing (A61L), and a smaller but present pharmacological layer covering drug-eluting or antiplatelet-adjacent chemistry (A61K, A61P, C07K, C08L). Reading across these layers together, rather than any single IPC class alone, gives the clearer picture of where device claims and biochemistry claims overlap.
Filing trends and technology composition
Filing volume, receiving-office distribution and IPC composition together show where activity has been sustained versus where it spiked and receded.
A 2022 peak, then a measured pull-back
Annual filings climbed from 22 in 2017 to a peak of 49 in 2022, then fell to 25 by 2024 – a -34% change over that three-year window. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures (down to 4 for the partial year) understate real activity and should not be read as a slowdown on their own.
Device claims outweigh chemistry claims by a wide margin
A61B (diagnosis & surgery) appears in 54.1% of the 499 records and A61F (implants & prostheses) in 41.9%, confirming that most of the claim space is architectural – frame geometry, delivery, deployment. A61L (sterilising & disinfecting) reaches 27.7%, while the pharmacological classes (A61K, A61P, C07K, C08L) each sit under 10%, indicating comparatively thin coverage of drug-eluting or biologic-coating approaches relative to the mechanical device itself.
Shares are the percentage of the 499 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Flow Diverters for Intracranial Aneurysms with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about flow diverters for intracranial aneurysms and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent filing
Intravascular flow diverter and related methods (US20260215784A1)
An intravascular flow diverter for treating an aneurysm of a blood vessel is provided. The intravascular flow diverter includes a frame comprising a plurality of wires forming an expandable structure. The intravascular flow diverter includes a cover disposed on at least a portion of the outer surface of the device. The cover includes a first portion configured to be disposed directly against a neck of the aneurysm.Filed by NV MEDTECH, INC. and published 2026-07-30, this record sits at the current edge of the dataset's coverage window.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5891192A | Ion-implanted protein-coated intralumenal implants | 335 |
| 2 | US20130066357A1 | Devices and methods for the treatment of vascular defects | 242 |
| 3 | US6723108B1 | Foam matrix embolization device | 217 |
| 4 | US20030185895A1 | Drug delivery particle | 176 |
| 5 | US8998947B2 | Devices and methods for the treatment of vascular defects | 171 |
| 6 | US20160022445A1 | Occlusive Device | 167 |
| 7 | US20120239074A1 | Devices and methods for the treatment of vascular defects | 161 |
| 8 | US20090254172A1 | Self cleaning devices, systems and methods of use | 160 |
| 9 | US20130116722A1 | Devices and methods for the treatment of vascular defects | 153 |
| 10 | US6979344B2 | Foam matrix embolization device | 144 |
Citation counts reflect accumulated influence within the searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of historical importance rather than current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the concentration and citation data indicate
Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the citation table are read together.
A narrow leadership group, not a single dominant player
The top 5 assignees combine for 254 of 499 records (50.9%), and extending to the top 10 adds only another 92 records to reach 346 (69.3%). That gap between fifth place (22) and tenth place (17) is modest, meaning the leadership tier is a cluster rather than one company running away with the field.
Volume has eased off its 2022 peak
Filings rose steadily to 49 in 2022 before declining to 25 by 2024, a -34% change over that span. Several of the most active historical filers show 0 filings in the latest year with -100% year-on-year drops, though the most recent two years are still incomplete due to publication lag.
Surface treatment is a meaningful second layer
Beyond frame and implant claims, more than a quarter of records (138 of 499) touch sterilising and disinfecting processes under A61L – relevant to endothelialization and biocompatibility performance rather than raw mechanical geometry. Pharmacological classes remain comparatively thin, each under 10% of records.
Research-institute pairings cluster around a small set of partners
Ten co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest links running between a French national research institute and two Paris universities – one pairing reaches 20 shared records, the others 16 each. This points to an academic-institutional cluster operating alongside the commercial device makers rather than fully separate from them.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to flow diverters for intracranial aneurysms, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space, and what is still open
The leadership tier is broad enough that no single assignee controls the field outright, and recent-year momentum has cooled across several historically active filers – which is itself informative for anyone deciding where to file next.
One filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 137 records against a fifth-place figure of 22, a substantial gap that reflects sustained, long-running device-frame and delivery-system filing rather than a recent surge.
A long tail beyond the leadership cluster
Past the top 10, the ranking extends across 85 companies total, many with single-digit record counts. That spread suggests active experimentation at the edges – new frame materials, delivery mechanisms and coating approaches – rather than a field fully locked up by incumbents.
Academic-industry pairings are geographically clustered
The strongest co-assignee relationships run through a French national health research institute and two Paris-based universities, with shared-record counts of 20 and 16. This academic cluster's own recent-year output has dropped to 0 filings across several of its constituent entities, consistent with the broader post-2022 pull-back.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Covidien LP | 2 | -71% |
| Medina Medical Inc | 0 | — |
| Pulsar Vascular Inc | 0 | — |
| Monarch Biosciences Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) | 0 | -100% |
| UNIV PARIS 13 PARIS NORD | 0 | -100% |
| Galaxy Therapeutics Inc | 0 | — |
| Boston Scientific Limited (UK) | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio strategy or identifying a filing gap.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leadership cluster
With the top 5 assignees holding 50.9% of records, any new frame or delivery-system design should be checked against that cluster's claim scope before development proceeds further.
Run a freedom-to-operate scan in EurekaTrack the post-2022 filing pull-back by assignee
Several of the most active historical filers show sharp year-on-year drops in the latest year; confirming whether this reflects strategic withdrawal or publication lag matters before reading too much into it.
Monitor assignee filing activity in EurekaAssess the under-claimed pharmacological layer
Drug-eluting and peptide-based coating classes each sit under 10% of records, a smaller footprint than the mechanical device classes – worth a closer look for open claim space.
Explore white space analysis in EurekaCommon questions about flow diverter patents
One assignee leads the field with 137 of the 499 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked filer at 22. The leadership tier overall is a cluster rather than a single monopoly: the top 5 assignees combine for 50.9% of all records, and the top 10 reach 69.3%. Beyond that group, the ranking extends across 85 companies total, many with only a handful of filings, so the field has both a concentrated core and a long, active tail.
Filing volume rose steadily from 22 records in 2017 to a peak of 49 in 2022, then declined to 25 by 2024 – a -34% change over that three-year span. Because patent publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, the lower figures recorded for 2025 and 2026 are incomplete and should not yet be read as a genuine slowdown. 2024 is the most recent year in this dataset that can reasonably be treated as complete.
The largest concentration sits in mechanical device claims: A61B (diagnosis & surgery) appears in 54.1% of the 499 records and A61F (implants & prostheses) in 41.9%. Sterilising and disinfecting processes under A61L, relevant to biocompatibility and endothelialization performance, appear in 27.7% of records. Pharmacological classes covering drug-eluting or antiplatelet-related chemistry are present but much thinner, each under 10% of records, which points to comparatively open claim space in coating and drug-delivery chemistry relative to frame and implant geometry.
The clearest gaps sit in the classes with the lowest record share: peptide and protein-based coatings (C07K, 3.8% of records) and polymer compositions (C08L, 3.2%) are both far behind the dominant device classes. Combining that with the pull-back in recent-year filings from several historically active assignees suggests specific sub-areas – antiplatelet-regimen-linked delivery timing, porosity-gradient cover geometry and biodegradable frame-cover interfaces – are under-claimed relative to the core mechanical frame space. Any first-mover filing there would face less crowded prior art than a generic frame or delivery-system claim.
US20260215784A1, filed by NV Medtech, Inc. and published 2026-07-30, describes an intravascular flow diverter with an expandable wire frame and a cover with a portion configured to sit directly against the aneurysm neck. It sits at the current edge of this dataset's coverage window and illustrates the continuing focus on frame-and-cover geometry rather than pharmacological approaches. Because it is so recent, its citation and licensing impact cannot yet be assessed from the data.
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