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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/intravascular-imaging-catheters-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Interventional DevicesIntravascular 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.
- Filing has cooled from its 2020 peak. Filings peaked at 94 in 2020 and fell -38% from 2021 (79) to 2024 (49), the last year with complete publication data.
- Imaging processing is now a parallel claim front. 18.7% of records also carry G06T image-processing classes alongside the core A61B diagnostic claims, showing software-side claiming has become a second battleground.
1,595
Published Records
56%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-38%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (79 records) with 2024 (49) — 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 1,595 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What the intravascular imaging catheter patent record shows
Intravascular imaging catheters sit at the intersection of ultrasound and optical hardware, catheter mechanics, and image processing — a combination visible in the IPC spread of this dataset. A61B (diagnosis and surgery) anchors 80.1% of the 1,595 records, but a meaningful share also touch G06T (image data processing), A61F (implants) and A61M (fluid delivery devices), reflecting claims that bridge the catheter itself, the vessel-borne device it images, and the software that turns raw pullback data into a usable readout.
Filing activity is not evenly spread by geography: the United States receives the largest share of filings, followed by Europe and the WIPO/PCT route, with Germany, Canada and Austria trailing behind — consistent with a field where clinical adoption and reimbursement pathways concentrate development and defensive filing in a handful of jurisdictions.
Filing activity by year, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Filing & Classification Data
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,595-record dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims fall into.
A 2020 peak followed by a real pullback
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.
Claims span hardware, implants and image processing
A61B dominates at 80.1% of records, but G06T (18.7%), A61F (15.2%) and A61M (12.7%) show that a sizeable minority of filings stake claims outside the core diagnostic device — particularly in image processing, where software-defined differentiation is increasingly the point of novelty.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,595 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. 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.
Go deeper on Intravascular Imaging Catheters with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about intravascular imaging catheters and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey Prior Art
Most-cited records in the field
Representative Recent Filing
US11571129B2 — Detecting and displaying stent expansion
CANON U.S.A., INC.
A method for processing an intravascular image comprising multiple frames acquired during a pullback of an imaging catheter, displaying detected lumen borders and stent position on a GUI, evaluating stent expansion and apposition, and allowing a user to modify the detected stent results so the system can re-evaluate stent length, expansion and apposition accordingly.Filed by Canon U.S.A., Inc.; published 2023-02-07.
Highest-citation patents in scope
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5383460A | Method and apparatus for ultrasound imaging and atherectomy | 1,201 |
| 2 | US6302875B1 | Catheters and related devices for forming passageways between blood vessels or other anatomical structures | 813 |
| 3 | US20070167801A1 | Methods and apparatuses for image guided medical procedures | 730 |
| 4 | US5054492A | Ultrasonic imaging catheter having rotational image correlation | 646 |
| 5 | US6585755B2 | Polymeric stent suitable for imaging by MRI and fluoroscopy | 619 |
| 6 | US20110071404A1 | Lumen Morphology and Vascular Resistance Measurements Data Collection Systems, Apparatus and Methods | 561 |
| 7 | US20030060877A1 | Coated medical devices for the treatment of vascular disease | 535 |
| 8 | US20020051730A1 | Coated medical devices and sterilization thereof | 525 |
| 9 | US6148095A | Apparatus and method for determining three-dimensional representations of tortuous vessels | 518 |
| 10 | US20020111590A1 | Medical devices, drug coatings and methods for maintaining the drug coatings thereon | 483 |
Citation counts inside this corpus favour older filings and should be read as a measure of influence on later filers, not as a signal of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Reading the concentration, trend and classification data together points to where the field is settled and where it is still moving.
Concentration
56.0% top 5
share of 1,595 records
A small group holds most of the claim space
The top 5 assignees combine for 56.0% of all 1,595 records in scope, and the top 10 extend that to 71.2%. New entrants are filing into a space where core pullback, co-registration and lumen-sizing claims are already heavily staked by a handful of incumbents.
Assignee ranking, 100 companies
Filing momentum
-38%
2021 (79) to 2024 (49)
Volume has pulled back from its 2020 peak
Filings peaked at 94 in 2020 and dropped -38% from 2021 to 2024, the last complete year. That is a real decline in a mature filing cohort, not a data artefact, though 2025-2026 counts will still rise as publications catch up.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Cross-class claiming
18.7%
of records also in G06T
Image processing is a parallel claim front
Nearly one in five records carries a G06T image-processing class alongside the core A61B diagnostic claim, and 6.9% touch G16H healthcare informatics — evidence that differentiation is shifting toward how pullback data is interpreted, not just how it is captured.
IPC composition, 1,595 records
Collaboration pattern
72 shared filings
strongest co-assignee pair
Corporate-family co-filing dominates collaboration
Of 10 identified co-assignee pairs, the strongest link — between two entities in the same corporate family — accounts for 72 shared records, far ahead of the next pairs at 7 each. Collaboration in this field runs mostly inside single corporate groups rather than across competitors.
Co-assignee pairs, 10 identified
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to intravascular imaging catheters, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
Competitive Landscape
Who is filing, and where momentum is shifting
The leader board is dominated by imaging-platform specialists and large medical device companies, with momentum data showing several of the largest historical filers slowing sharply in the most recent year.
Leader
308 records
leading assignee
One imaging-platform specialist leads by a wide margin
The top-ranked assignee holds 308 records, more than four times the fifth-place holder at 72 — a gap wide enough that most competitive activity in this field is really a contest for second place.
Assignee ranking
Momentum
-50% YoY
leader's latest-year filings
Even the leader is filing less this year
The top assignee logged 5 filings in the latest year, down -50% year over year, and the next major imaging player logged just 2 with 0% YoY change. Several long-standing filers, including two large device makers, show 0 filings in the latest year.
Recent-year momentum, by assignee
Long tail
28.8%
share outside top 10
A long tail still files outside the top 10
With the top 10 holding 71.2% of the 1,595 records, the remaining 28.8% is spread across a long tail of the ranked 100 companies plus unranked entrants — a mix of smaller device makers, imaging software firms and academic assignees.
Assignee ranking, 100 companies
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Philips Image Guided Therapy Corp | 5 | -50% |
| LightLab Imaging LLC | 2 | 0% |
| Koninklijke Philips N.V. | 0 | -100% |
| Elixir Medical Corp | 0 | — |
| Canon U.S.A., Inc. | 0 | — |
| Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 0 | — |
| The General Hospital Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| ACIST Medical Systems, Inc. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with settled core claims and open questions at the software and workflow edges.
Map freedom-to-operate against the top 10
With 71.2% of records held by ten assignees, a freedom-to-operate review for any new pullback, co-registration or apposition claim should start against that group before looking further down the ranking.
Explore assignees in EurekaTrack the software-side claim front
The 18.7% overlap with G06T and 6.9% with G16H suggests image-processing and informatics claims are where new filings are most likely to find open space relative to core hardware claims.
Run a white space search in EurekaWatch the 2025-2026 publication catch-up
Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the apparent 2024 low is not necessarily the field's floor; revisit the trend once 2025 filings finish publishing.
Set a filing alert in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about intravascular imaging catheter patents
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.
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.
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.
US11571129B2, assigned to Canon U.S.A., Inc. and published 2023-02-07, covers a method for processing intravascular images captured during a catheter pullback, including displaying detected lumen borders and stent position, evaluating stent expansion and apposition, and letting a user correct the detected stent boundaries so the system re-evaluates those measurements. It is a representative example of how claims in this field have moved toward the image-processing and GUI layer rather than the physical catheter hardware alone. Anyone building automated stent-apposition or expansion-scoring tools should review this claim scope directly rather than relying on a summary.
The classification data points to thinner claim density outside the core A61B diagnostic space: only 6.9% of records touch G16H healthcare informatics and 3.5% touch G06K data recognition, both far below the 80.1% concentration in A61B. Sub-areas such as automated co-registration with angiography, AI-based apposition scoring, and contrast-flush optimisation appear less saturated than core pullback and lumen-sizing mechanics. That said, thinner density in a search result is a starting hypothesis for a deeper freedom-to-operate and novelty search, not a guarantee of open claim space.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. 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.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.