Image-Guided Radiotherapy Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentration at the top. The five leading assignees together hold 417 records — 28.6% of the 1,456 families in scope — while the ranked field runs 100 companies deep with a long tail below tenth place.
- Filing has cooled from its 2017 peak. Activity peaked at 148 records in 2017 and, on the last complete comparison window, fell 34% from 79 records in 2021 to 52 in 2024.
- Positioning and imaging dominate the claim space. A61B (diagnosis & surgery) and A61N (radiation therapy) cover 69.4% and 43.0% of records respectively, while image processing and dosimetry classes each sit under 10%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (79 records) with 2024 (52) — 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 1,456 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the image-guided radiotherapy patent record shows
Image-guided radiotherapy sits at the intersection of patient positioning, cone-beam imaging and treatment delivery. The dataset behind this page covers 1,456 patent families published between 2015 and mid-2026, filtered on core terms — image guided radiotherapy, cone beam imaging, patient positioning — paired with the mechanisms that make those systems work in a clinic: setup error correction, imaging dose, fiducial markers, surface guidance, couch correction and workflow time. That pairing keeps the corpus focused on deployable systems rather than every radiotherapy-adjacent filing.
Filing built through the mid-2010s, peaked in 2017, and has since settled onto a lower plateau. Because publication typically lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the underlying filing activity actually was — that effect explains part of the recent-year drop-off, not all of it.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,456-record corpus: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how records distribute across IPC subclasses.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings peaked at 148 records in 2017. On the last window that can be treated as complete, volume fell from 79 records in 2021 to 52 in 2024 — a 34% decline. Read 2025 and 2026 as still filling in rather than as confirmation of a continued fall.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
A61B (diagnosis & surgery) appears on 69.4% of the 1,456 records and A61N (electrotherapy & radiation therapy) on 43.0%, confirming that positioning and delivery hardware anchor most filings. Image processing (G06T, 9.7%), particle/radiation handling (G21K, 6.1%) and dosimetry (G01T, 4.3%) are present but comparatively thin — each record can carry more than one class, so these shares add up to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,456 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Image-Guided Radiotherapy with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about image-guided radiotherapy and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent filing to watch
US20260199163A1 — Automated dynamic patient positioning system for robotic surgery
A dynamic patient positioning system for robotic surgery that combines a base for supporting a patient, multiple motion platforms engaging the patient, a fiducial-marker navigation system, and a controller that coordinates the two. The motion platforms — six-degrees-of-freedom hexapods or Stewart platforms — adjust patient positioning automatically and in real time as the navigation system tracks marker positions and the controller detects movement.Filed by Automated Intelligent Robotics LLC, published 2026-07-16 — near the current data cut-off, so citation and family data for it are still accumulating.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US9913733B2 | Intra-operative determination of dimensions for fabrication of artificial bone flap | 853 |
| 2 | WO2016110804A1 | Mobile wearable monitoring systems | 466 |
| 3 | US20210169417A1 | Mobile wearable monitoring systems | 450 |
| 4 | US20140058406A1 | Robotic Device and Systems for Image-Guided and Robot-Assisted Surgery | 449 |
| 5 | US6842502B2 | Cone beam computed tomography with a flat panel imager | 416 |
| 6 | US20050197564A1 | System for delivering conformal radiation therapy while simultaneously imaging soft tissue | 403 |
| 7 | US5851182A | Megavoltage radiation therapy machine combined to diagnostic imaging devices for cost efficient conventional … | 382 |
| 8 | US8812077B2 | System and method for image guidance during medical procedures | 343 |
| 9 | US20110200171A1 | Methods and apparatus for renal neuromodulation via stereotactic radiotherapy | 340 |
| 10 | US20150213633A1 | System, method and computer-accessible medium for providing a panoramic cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) | 338 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus tend to favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations — read them as a signal of influence on the field, not as a ranking of current technical importance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on rather than just noting.
The top of the field is real but not a wall
The five leading assignees combined hold 417 of the 1,456 records in scope — 28.6% — and the top ten reach 42.7%. That leaves well over half the corpus spread across a ranked field of 100 companies, with a long tail below tenth place holding far fewer records each.
Volume has come off its peak, not stopped
Filings peaked at 148 in 2017 and fell from 79 in 2021 to 52 in 2024 — a 34% drop over that span. Treat 2025 and 2026 figures as incomplete rather than as a continuation of that decline, since publication lag understates the most recent years in any patent trend.
Positioning hardware is the most crowded claim space
A61B covers 69.4% of the 1,456 records and A61N 43.0%, meaning most activity concentrates on patient-facing hardware and radiation delivery. Image processing, particle handling and dosimetry classes each sit under 10%, which is where claim space is comparatively less occupied.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to image-guided radiotherapy, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked field runs 100 companies deep across the full corpus of 1,456 families. A handful of names account for the leading share, but momentum data shows even some of the largest filers had zero output in the latest tracked year — consistent with publication lag rather than an actual stop in R&D.
A single assignee tops the ranking by a wide margin
The leading assignee holds 111 records, well ahead of fifth place at 67 and tenth place at 36. That gap narrows quickly further down the ranking, where the tail of 100 ranked companies thins into single- and low-digit filing counts.
Collaboration is limited and clustered around a few inventors
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings built around a small group of named inventors rather than cross-company joint ventures. That suggests most filings in this space are pursued by single assignees rather than through formal co-development.
The US dominates receiving offices, Europe and PCT follow
United States filings lead at 659 records, ahead of the European Patent Office at 232 and WIPO/PCT routes at 176. Canada, Australia and Germany each sit in the 60-80 record range, indicating secondary but active filing corridors.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Accuray Inc | 0 | -100% |
| LEE W DAVIS | 0 | — |
| Globus Medical Inc | 0 | -100% |
| Synaptive Medical (Barbados) Inc | 0 | — |
| AMATO MARK R | 0 | — |
| Varian Medical Systems International AG | 0 | — |
| BENNETT JAMES P | 0 | — |
| University of Florida Research Foundation Inc | 0 | -100% |
Where to take this next
The landscape points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, competitive tracking or identifying open claim space.
Check freedom-to-operate against the leading assignees
With 28.6% of records held by five assignees, a targeted clearance search against their portfolios is a faster first pass than screening the full 1,456-record corpus.
Run a clearance search in EurekaTrack momentum, not just headline counts
Recent-year filing figures understate real activity because of publication lag. Pair the trend chart with citation and family data before concluding a company has slowed down.
Set up assignee monitoring in EurekaScope claims in the under-claimed branches
Dosimetry integration, motion-tracking fiducials and workflow-time automation show thinner IPC density than core positioning hardware — worth a focused prior-art pull before drafting.
Explore white space in EurekaCommon questions about the image-guided radiotherapy patent landscape
The dataset ranks 100 companies by filing volume, with the leading assignee holding 111 records against 1,456 total families in scope. The top five assignees combined account for 417 records, or 28.6% of the corpus, and the top ten reach 42.7%. Below tenth place, holdings drop off quickly into a long tail of companies with far fewer filings each, so the field is concentrated at the top but not dominated by a single player.
Filing peaked at 148 records in 2017 and has declined since, falling from 79 records in 2021 to 52 in 2024 — a 34% drop over that three-year span. Figures for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so those recent years are undercounted rather than necessarily reflecting a real stop in activity. The safest read is a cooling trend through 2024, with the most recent two years still incomplete.
A61B (diagnosis and surgery) appears on 69.4% of the 1,456 records and A61N (electrotherapy and radiation therapy) on 43.0%, together anchoring most of the filing activity around patient positioning and radiation delivery hardware. Image data processing (G06T) covers 9.7% of records, and particle/radiation handling, dosimetry and implant-related classes each sit at single-digit shares. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should be read as overlapping coverage, not a strict breakdown.
The IPC composition shows core positioning and delivery classes are heavily claimed, while adjacent branches like real-time imaging dose optimisation, dosimetry integration and workflow-time automation for patient setup carry comparatively thin coverage. Co-assignee data also shows only 10 identified collaboration pairs across the dataset, suggesting cross-company joint development is rare — an opening for partnerships as much as for solo filings. Any white-space claim should still be checked against the leading assignees' full portfolios before drafting, since headline IPC shares do not capture claim-level detail.
Moderately concentrated at the top and long-tailed below it: the top five assignees hold 28.6% of the 1,456 records in scope and the top ten hold 42.7%, but the ranking extends to 100 companies with rapidly declining counts past tenth place. This pattern is typical of a maturing medical-device category — a handful of established players with large portfolios, alongside many smaller filers each contributing a handful of records. It means new entrants face real prior art from the leaders but still have room to file in less-crowded branches.
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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.