Intravascular Imaging Catheters Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
Intravascular Imaging Catheters Patents: Who Leads and Where Filing Is Headed
Concentrated at the top. The top 5 assignees hold 56.0% of all 1,595 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 71.2% — a small group controls most of the claim space. Filings rose from 27 in 2017 to a peak of 94 in 2020, then declined -38% from 79 in 2021 to 49 in 2024, the most recent year with complete data. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 figures will continue to fill in and should not yet be read as a further decline.
- 1PHILIPS IMAGE GUIDED THERAPY CORP308
- 2KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS NV217
- 3LIGHTLAB IMAGING LLC216
- 4ELIXIR MEDICAL CORP80
- 5CANON USA INC72
See the full intravascular imaging catheters 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 intravascular imaging catheter patents
Who holds the most patents in intravascular imaging catheters?
One imaging-platform specialist leads the ranking with 308 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 72. The top 5 assignees together account for 56.0% of all 1,595 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 71.2%, so the field is concentrated among a small group of imaging and cardiovascular device companies rather than spread evenly across many filers. Anyone assessing competitive risk in this space should treat that group as the starting point for a freedom-to-operate check.
Is patent filing in intravascular imaging catheters growing or shrinking?
Filings peaked at 94 in 2020 and have since declined, falling -38% from 79 in 2021 to 49 in 2024, the most recent year with complete publication data. Publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the lower counts seen for 2025 and 2026 in raw data are not yet reliable evidence of continued decline. Based on the complete years, the honest read is a real pullback in filing volume from a 2020 high rather than a stable or growing trend.
What technology areas do intravascular imaging catheter patents cover?
The core of the field sits in A61B (diagnosis and surgery), which touches 80.1% of the 1,595 records. A meaningful minority also carry G06T image-processing classes (18.7%), A61F implant-related classes (15.2%), and A61M fluid-device classes (12.7%), showing that claims frequently span the imaging catheter itself, the stent or implant being imaged, and the software that processes pullback data. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up to more than 100% and should not be read as mutually exclusive categories.
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 Intravascular Imaging Catheters 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.