Handheld Ultrasound Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
Handheld and Portable Ultrasound Systems: Patents, Leaders and Filing Trends
71.3% concentration. The top five assignees account for 72 of 101 records in scope — a field with a narrow set of controlling filers, not a fragmented one. Filings rose from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 26 in 2020, then fell to 10 by 2021 and to 2 by 2024 — an 80% drop across that three-year window. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as provisional given publication lag; they are not evidence of a further decline, only of incomplete data.
- 1EXO IMAGING INC30
- 2KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV14
- 3VAVE HEALTH INC13
- 4BFLY OPERATIONS INC9
- 5FUJIFILM SONOSITE INC6
See the full handheld and portable ultrasound systems analysis in Eureka
- The complete ranking, not just the top five
- Every IPC branch with its share of the corpus
- The most-cited records, and where claim space is still thin
Common questions about handheld ultrasound patents
Who holds the most patents on handheld ultrasound systems?
One assignee leads the ranked field with 30 of the 101 records in scope, noticeably ahead of the fifth-place holder at 6 records. The top five assignees combined hold 71.3% of all records, and the top ten hold 88.1%. This means the field is concentrated among a small group rather than evenly spread across many independent filers.
Is handheld ultrasound patent activity still growing?
No — filing activity peaked in 2020 at 26 records and has declined since, falling from 10 in 2021 to 2 in 2024, an 80% drop over that three-year span. That said, publication typically lags actual filing by around eighteen months, so figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete and should not be read as confirming further decline. The clearest complete-year picture ends around 2024.
What technology areas dominate handheld ultrasound patent claims?
A61B, the diagnosis-and-surgery classification, appears in 94.1% of the 101 records, making it the dominant claim category by a wide margin. G01S, covering radar, sonar and positioning elements used in beamforming and probe positioning, appears in 32.7% of records as a clear second axis. Acoustics (G10K) and mechanical vibration generation (B06B) follow at 15.8% and 17.8% respectively, marking the transducer layer as a secondary but consistent focus.
Disclaimer. This analysis is based on Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent records and is provided for general information and reference only. Patent data carries inherent limitations — recent filings are under-counted because of publication lag, counts may be on a record or family basis, classification and applicant-name data may contain errors or duplicates, and the underlying search query defines the scope shown — so the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing here is an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Verify independently and review with qualified patent and legal professionals before acting on it.
Method: Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Handheld and Portable Ultrasound Systems covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish. Every share divides by all records in scope. Data: Patsnap Eureka. See the full landscape report.