Magnetically Steered Catheters Patents: Who Leads, Where Gaps Sit 2026
- 58.8% concentration. The top 5 of 75 ranked assignees hold 114 of 194 records in scope — a field with one dominant filer and a long tail behind it.
- Filing peaked in 2021 at 46 records, then fell to 5 by 2024 (-89%), though 2025-2026 figures are still filling in given typical publication lag.
- Navigation, not the catheter itself, carries the claim density: G01C (distance/navigation/gyroscopes) appears in 35.1% of records, second only to A61B diagnosis and surgery classes at 46.9%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (46 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 194 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent families filed against magnetically steered catheters and guidewires — devices that use externally generated magnetic fields, tip-mounted magnets, and closed-loop control to steer a device through the body without manual torque at the hub. The search spans 194 published records from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, drawing on claims and description text around field strength, gradient requirements, tip magnet integration, closed-loop control, interference and reachability. It is a narrow, applied field: the underlying physics (permanent magnets, external source magnets, boost coils) is decades old, but the control and navigation layer built on top of it is where recent filing activity concentrates.
Reading the data as patent families rather than raw documents matters here because a single steering platform can generate many continuation filings across US, EPO, WIPO, Chinese and other offices. The receiving-office split in this dataset — heaviest in the United States and China, with meaningful EPO and PCT volume — reflects a field where the earliest platform patents were filed in the US and later activity, particularly from Chinese entrants, has broadened the geographic footprint without yet displacing the original claim holders.
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Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 194 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the claims actually sit in.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Filings rose from 16 in 2017 to a peak of 46 in 2021, then declined sharply to 5 by 2024 — an 89% drop over that three-year span. The single record logged for 2026 reflects the partial year and publication lag, not a stalled field; 2025 and 2026 counts will continue to fill in as filings are published roughly 18 months after they are made.
IPC subclass composition
A61B (diagnosis and surgery) appears in 46.9% of the 194 records and G01C (navigation and gyroscopes) in 35.1%, confirming that most claims sit at the intersection of medical device structure and positioning technology rather than in magnetics alone. H01F (magnets, inductors, transformers) and G01S (radar, sonar and positioning) each cover roughly 14-15% of records, while A61M, G05D, A61N and G01R each sit in the 6-9% range — a set of thinner, more specialised bands. Records can carry multiple classes, so these shares add up to well over 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 194 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Magnetically Steered Catheters and Guidewires with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about magnetically steered catheters and guidewires and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe most-cited prior art
Apparatus and method for magnetic navigation using boost magnets (US20070197899A1)
A method of and system for navigating a medical device in a subject. The device has a magnet in a tip of the device and is navigable in the subject using source magnets positioned outside the subject. A source magnet magnetic field is used to navigate the device tip to a point in the subject. A boost magnetic moment is created by boost coils and is added to a permanent tip magnet moment to increase the torque applied by the externally generated magnetic field to the device tip. At least one boost magnet is used to apply the boost magnetic field. This method also makes it possible to design magnetic navigation systems with reduced size and cost.Filed by Stereotaxis, published 2007-08-23 — one of the field's earliest boost-coil torque architectures.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7276044B2 | System and methods for advancing a catheter | 1,381 |
| 2 | US20020177789A1 | System and methods for advancing a catheter | 488 |
| 3 | US6776165B2 | Magnetic navigation system for diagnosis, biopsy and drug delivery vehicles | 383 |
| 4 | US7019610B2 | Magnetic navigation system | 345 |
| 5 | US6542766B2 | Medical devices adapted for magnetic navigation with magnetic fields and gradients | 299 |
| 6 | US20040050394A1 | Magnetic navigation system for diagnosis, biopsy and drug delivery vehicles | 233 |
| 7 | US7161453B2 | Rotating and pivoting magnet for magnetic navigation | 172 |
| 8 | US6975197B2 | Rotating and pivoting magnet for magnetic navigation | 172 |
| 9 | US20050113628A1 | Rotating and pivoting magnet for magnetic navigation | 146 |
| 10 | US7766856B2 | System and methods for advancing a catheter | 133 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus favour older filings; treat this as a map of foundational influence, not of which patents matter most today.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns stand out once the ranking, the trend and the IPC split are read together.
One filer dominates the ranking
The leading assignee alone accounts for 46 records against a fifth-place figure of 6 and a tenth-place figure of 2 — a steep drop-off after the top handful. New entrants are filing into a field where core steering-platform claims are already staked out by one company, which raises the bar for anything that reads on external-magnet source control rather than adjacent uses.
Peak filing has passed, recent years still filling in
2021 was the high-water mark for filing activity in this dataset. The fall to 2024 is real, but because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts are not yet complete and should not be read as evidence the field has gone quiet.
Navigation claims rival device-structure claims
G01C sits second only to A61B in record share, ahead of the magnetics class H01F itself. That ordering suggests the differentiable claim territory now is in how a device is guided and tracked, not simply in tip-magnet or coil design.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to magnetically steered catheters and guidewires, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking is steep at the top and thin below it. Co-assignee activity is limited to a small number of recurring pairs, and recent-year filing counts by leading assignees have gone quiet across the board — consistent with the 2021 peak and the publication lag on 2025-2026 data rather than a wind-down.
A single dominant filer
The top-ranked assignee holds 46 of 194 records, well clear of a fifth-place figure of 6 and a tenth-place figure of 2. This is a platform-owner pattern: one company's early boost-magnet and external-source-magnet architecture underpins much of the field's foundational IP.
Many single- and few-filing entrants
Beyond the top 10, which together hold 69.6% of the 194 records, the remaining ranked assignees each hold only a handful of filings. That distribution points to a field where smaller players are patenting specific mechanisms rather than competing platform-wide.
Collaboration is rare and localised
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the dataset, the strongest recurring pair filing together 4 times. Co-filing is not a major route into this field; most records list a single assignee.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Stereotaxis, Inc. | 0 | — |
| ASTRA NAVIGATION INC | 0 | — |
| GI Windows, Inc. | 0 | — |
| ETH Zurich | 0 | — |
| Lockheed Martin Corp. | 0 | — |
| NEUROSIMPLICITY LLC | 0 | — |
| AtriCure, Inc. | 0 | — |
| RITTER ROGERS C | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with an entrenched leader and a large field of thin filers. Two directions are worth pursuing before committing to a filing strategy.
Map claims against the leading assignee's family
Given 58.8% concentration in the top 5 assignees, any new filing in external-magnet navigation or boost-coil torque control should be checked against the leading assignee's full family, not just its most-cited records.
Explore assignee families in EurekaWatch the under-claimed navigation-control intersection
G01C's 35.1% record share alongside thinner G05D and G01R shares suggests specific closed-loop control and measurement claims remain more open than the device-structure space.
Run a white-space search in EurekaCommon questions about this landscape
One assignee holds a clear majority position, with 46 of the 194 records in this dataset against a fifth-place figure of just 6. That company's early filings on external source-magnet navigation and boost-coil torque systems, including records like US20070197899A1, form much of the foundational IP other filers must design around. The remaining 74 ranked assignees each hold small numbers of records, so the field is best described as one dominant platform holder surrounded by a long tail of narrower filers rather than a competitive multi-player market.
No — filings peaked at 46 in 2021 and had fallen to 5 by 2024, an 89% decline over that span. However, because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the 2025 and 2026 figures in any dataset are still incomplete and should not be read as proof the field has gone cold. The safer read is that the field has moved past its highest filing-activity period, with the most current picture not yet fully visible.
Diagnosis and surgery claims (IPC class A61B) appear in 46.9% of the 194 records, and navigation and gyroscope claims (G01C) in 35.1%, making these the two dominant classes. Magnets and inductors (H01F) and radar/positioning (G01S) each cover roughly 14-15% of records, while body-fluid devices, non-electric control, electrotherapy and electric/magnetic measurement classes each sit in single digits. Because a record can carry multiple IPC classes, these figures overlap rather than sum to 100%, and the pattern shows most value sitting at the navigation-and-surgery intersection rather than in magnetics alone.
The IPC composition points to thinner coverage in control and measurement classes — G05D (control of non-electric variables) and G01R (electric and magnetic measurement) each sit at 6.2% of the 194 records, well below the navigation and device-structure classes. Closed-loop feedback under interference conditions, reachability limits in tortuous anatomy, and field-strength calibration for smaller-footprint systems are areas the search terms specifically targeted but which show comparatively low representation. These are reasonable starting points for a freedom-to-operate or white-space search rather than confirmed gaps, since a full search would need to verify claim scope directly.
The United States leads with 74 receiving-office records, followed by China at 45, the European Patent Office at 27, and WIPO PCT filings at 17, with Israel and Australia further behind. This split reflects the field's origins in US-filed platform patents, with China's growing share suggesting newer entrants are building parallel filing positions there rather than solely extending the original US portfolios. Anyone evaluating freedom to operate should check both US and Chinese filings separately, since the leading assignee's coverage may not be uniform across offices.
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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.