Hematology Analyzer Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Top-heavy field. the top 5 assignees hold 55.0% of all 191 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 82.7% — this is a field with a short list of gatekeepers, not a fragmented one.
- Filing has cooled from its 2019 peak. activity ran 2021's 21 filings down to 5 in 2024, a -76% swing over that span, though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in given publication lag.
- Claims cluster hard on core measurement. 81.7% of records sit in G01N material analysis and testing, while informatics, enzyme/DNA methods and body-fluid devices each cover a tenth or less.
Filing growth compares 2021 (21 records) with 2024 (5) — 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 191 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the hematology analyzer patent record shows
Hematology analyzer technology spans impedance counting, flow cytometric channels, reagent handling and the software that turns raw signal into a complete blood count. The 191 records in scope, filed between 2015 and mid-2026, sit predominantly in material analysis and testing (G01N), with smaller but persistent clusters in healthcare informatics, enzyme and DNA-based measurement, and body-fluid handling devices. Publication lag means the most recent one to two years understate real filing activity.
Filing volume peaked in 2019 and has fallen sharply since, with the three-year run from 2021 to 2024 down 76%. Combined with a concentrated assignee base, that pattern points to a technology where the core measurement approaches are well staked out and later entrants are filing into narrower, more specific corners of the space.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 191 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend: peak, then a sharp pullback
Filings rose from a single record in 2017 to a peak of 22 in 2019, then declined through the early 2020s, falling from 21 in 2021 to 5 in 2024 — a -76% drop over that three-year window. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to the roughly 18-month gap between filing and publication, so they should not be read as a continued decline.
Technology composition: concentrated in core measurement
G01N (material analysis and testing) covers 81.7% of the 191 records, far ahead of G16H healthcare informatics (11.5%) and C12Q enzyme/DNA-based measurement (9.4%). Smaller shares in A61M body-fluid devices, B01D separation, G01V, G06F and B04B centrifuges show where analyzer patents overlap adjacent equipment and software categories. Records can carry multiple IPC classes, so these shares add up to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 191 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Hematology Analyzer Technology with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about hematology analyzer technology and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited patents in this dataset
US20070190525A1 — Assay implementation in a microfluidic format
An assay implementation in a microfluidic format in a cartridge relating to a point-of-care instrument platform for monitoring and diagnosing infectious diseases such as AIDS and malaria. The platform may also provide a complete blood count, holding the cartridge and a portion of an optical system for fluorescent and scattered light analyses of a blood sample in a flow channel of the cartridge.Filed by Honeywell International, published 2007-08-16 — illustrative of how cartridge-based microfluidic CBC approaches were claimed early in this space.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5891734A | Method for performing automated analysis | 317 |
| 2 | US4609017A | Method and apparatus for transporting carriers of sealed sample tubes and mixing the samples | 191 |
| 3 | US20030030783A1 | Consumable tube for use with a flow cytometry-based hematology system | 147 |
| 4 | US7903241B2 | Method and apparatus for determining red blood cell indices of a blood sample utilizing the intrinsic pigment… | 137 |
| 5 | US7929122B2 | Method and apparatus for determining red blood cell indices of a blood sample utilizing the intrinsic pigment… | 121 |
| 6 | US20070190525A1 | Assay implementation in a microfluidic format | 111 |
| 7 | US6784981B1 | Flow cytometry-based hematology system | 96 |
| 8 | US8885154B2 | Method and apparatus for identifying reticulocytes within a blood sample | 94 |
| 9 | US7553453B2 | Assay implementation in a microfluidic format | 92 |
| 10 | US8310658B2 | Method and apparatus for identifying reticulocytes within a blood sample | 85 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial relevance.
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Reading the filing trend and IPC composition together points to a field where the foundational measurement methods are locked up, but adjacent informatics and device-integration branches remain comparatively open.
A short list of gatekeepers
Five assignees hold more than half of all records in scope, and the top 10 hold 82.7%. New entrants filing broad impedance-counting or flow-channel claims are filing into space already occupied by a small number of established holders.
Cooling after a 2019 peak
Filing activity peaked at 22 records in 2019 and has declined through the most recent complete years, falling from 21 in 2021 to 5 in 2024. Recent-year momentum by assignee shows most established filers at zero in the latest year, though this may reflect publication lag as much as reduced R&D.
Core measurement dominates, informatics trails
Material analysis and testing claims cover the large majority of records, while healthcare informatics (11.5%) and enzyme/DNA-based methods (9.4%) form smaller, less contested clusters. Software-driven interpretation of blood count data looks comparatively under-claimed relative to the hardware side.
Foundational patents still anchor the field
The most-cited records date from the automated-analysis and consumable-tube era of flow cytometry-based hematology systems. Their citation weight reflects age and foundational status within the corpus rather than current filing activity.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to hematology analyzer technology, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space, and where it thins out
The ranked leaders account for most of the record volume, but recent-year momentum has slowed across nearly every major assignee, and several sub-areas near the core measurement claims remain lightly filed.
One filer well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 33 of the 191 records in scope, more than double the fifth-place holder's 14. That gap suggests a single company built an early, broad filing position around core analyzer methods.
A steep drop-off after the top 10
Beyond the top 10, which together hold 82.7% of all records, the remaining ranked assignees each hold small, single-digit counts. This is a field where a handful of holders set the terms and everyone else files narrowly around them.
Broad-based slowdown, not one company's retreat
Recent-year momentum shows several established assignees at zero filings in the latest year, including one down 100% year-over-year. Only one tracked assignee shows any activity in the latest year, consistent with the overall -76% three-year filing decline rather than a single firm exiting.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Sysmex Corporation | 3 | — |
| IDEXX Laboratories Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Abbott Point of Care Inc | 0 | — |
| Bayer Corp | 0 | — |
| Alifax | 0 | — |
| Coulter Electronics Inc | 0 | — |
| Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc | 0 | — |
| Abbott Laboratories Inc | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The filing and citation data point to where claim space is dense and where it is thinning — the next step is testing a specific claim or company against that picture.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top holders
With 82.7% of records held by ten assignees, any new filing on core impedance or flow-channel measurement should be checked against their specific claim scope first.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaExplore the under-claimed branches
Software interpretation, reagent optimisation and carryover mitigation carry fewer records than the core measurement classes and may offer more room to file distinct claims.
Explore white space in EurekaTrack assignee momentum going forward
Because 2025-2026 filings are still publishing, re-checking assignee momentum in six to twelve months will give a truer read on whether the 2021-2024 slowdown continued.
Set up assignee tracking in EurekaCommon questions about hematology analyzer patents
The dataset ranks 44 companies by patent family count, and the field is concentrated: the leading assignee holds 33 of the 191 records in scope, well ahead of the fifth-ranked holder at 14. The top 5 assignees together account for 55.0% of all records, and the top 10 account for 82.7%. This means freedom-to-operate work in this space should prioritise checking the claim scope of a short list of established holders before broader searching.
Filing activity peaked in 2019 at 22 records and has since declined, falling from 21 filings in 2021 to 5 in 2024 — a drop of 76% over that three-year span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because patent publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the most recent years should not yet be read as continuing the decline. Taken together, the pattern suggests core filing activity cooled after an early-2020s peak rather than that the technology is being abandoned.
Material analysis and testing (IPC class G01N) dominates, covering 81.7% of the 191 records in scope, reflecting the centrality of impedance counting, optical and flow-based measurement methods. Healthcare informatics (G16H, 11.5%) and enzyme/DNA-based measurement (C12Q, 9.4%) form smaller but distinct clusters. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100%, and the smaller categories should be read as adjacent overlaps rather than separate sub-markets.
US20070190525A1, assigned to Honeywell International and published in 2007, covers a microfluidic cartridge-based assay implementation for a point-of-care instrument that can also deliver a complete blood count, using an optical system for fluorescent and scattered-light analysis of blood in a flow channel. It is representative of early cartridge-based CBC approaches rather than a single blocking claim across the field. Anyone building a microfluidic point-of-care analyzer should review its specific claim language, but the broader measurement space includes many other holders and approaches beyond this one filing.
The IPC composition data shows lighter filing in areas adjacent to core measurement, including healthcare informatics, enzyme and DNA-based test integration, and body-fluid handling devices, each covering roughly a tenth or less of the 191 records compared to 81.7% for core material analysis and testing. Software-driven interpretation of blood count results, reagent-consumption optimisation, and sample-carryover mitigation in cartridge formats stand out as comparatively under-claimed relative to the hardware-heavy core. These are reasonable starting points for a novelty search before drafting new 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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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.