Fastest
Eureka on the web
When you want the answer in the next five minutes.
The agent works the prompt against patents and technical literature, citing every source.
Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/rehabilitation-and-assistive-devices-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Medical Devices & ImplantsRehabilitation and Assistive Device Patents: Who Files, What They Claim, and Where Space Remains Open
- Filing kept climbing through the last complete year, up 26% from 62 filings in 2021 to 78 in 2024, with a peak of 118 in 2023.
- The top 5 assignees hold just 24.2% of all 798 records, so the field is led but not locked down — a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants fills the rest.
- Diagnosis-and-surgery claims (A61B) touch 30.3% of records, while physical therapy and massage (A61H) sits at only 6.4% — a visible gap next to the busiest class.
798
Published Records
24%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+26%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (62 records) with 2024 (78) — 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 798 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the patent record shows about rehabilitation and assistive devices
The dataset covers 798 published patent records filed against a search spanning medical rehabilitation, implant-linked rehabilitation and assistive devices, cross-referenced with device geometry, implant materials, fixation elements and physiological-interface claims. It captures filings from 2015 through the 2026-08-31 cut-off, with publication lag meaning the most recent one to two years understate true filing activity. The assignee ranking spans 100 companies, counted by patent family, which is the fairer unit than raw document counts because it neutralises continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction duplicates.
Filing activity rose from 42 records in 2017 to a peak of 118 in 2023, and the growth from 62 in 2021 to 78 in 2024 — a 26% increase over three years — points to a field still being actively claimed rather than one that has settled. Concentration at the top is moderate: the leading five assignees combine for 24.2% of all records, and the top ten reach 36.1%, leaving well over half the corpus to entrants outside the ranked leaders.
Filing volume and assignee concentration, 2017–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
These figures come directly from the records in scope: 798 published patent documents indexed against rehabilitation and assistive-device search terms, cross-tabulated by publication year, IPC subclass and receiving office.
Filings climbed to a 2023 peak, with 2025–2026 still filling in
Annual filings rose from 42 in 2017 to a peak of 118 in 2023. The 2021→2024 span shows a 26% increase (62 to 78 filings), the cleanest complete-year comparison available; 2025 and 2026 figures will rise as publication catches up with filing.
Diagnosis and data processing dominate; physical therapy is comparatively thin
A61B (diagnosis and surgery) appears on 30.3% of the 798 records, ahead of G06F (electric digital data processing, 18.5%), G16H (healthcare informatics, 18.3%) and A61N (electrotherapy and radiation therapy, 17.2%). A61H (physical therapy and massage), at 6.4%, and A61F (implants and prostheses) at 10.8%, carry noticeably less claim density than the top classes, even though each record can carry multiple IPC codes so these shares overlap.
Shares are the percentage of the 798 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 Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about rehabilitation & assistive devices patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey Patents
A representative filing and the most-cited prior art
Representative Filing
Smart medical rehabilitation device (US20180133089A1)
HEFEI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
A smart medical rehabilitation device comprises a driving unit, a linkage unit, a sensing unit and a rehabilitation evaluating unit mounted on a frame. The linkage unit's link mechanism and slide mechanism move together, driven along a groove plate, so the slide mechanism can assist a training object performing lower limb rehabilitation training while the rehabilitation evaluating unit assesses physiological response.Filed by Hefei University of Technology, published 2018-05-17 — illustrates the mechanical-linkage-plus-sensing pattern common across lower-limb rehabilitation filings in this corpus.
Most-cited records in the corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20060161218A1 | Systems and methods for treating traumatic brain injury | 496 |
| 2 | US20050054910A1 | Optical image-based position tracking for magnetic resonance imaging applications | 447 |
| 3 | US20080300660A1 | Power generation for implantable devices | 410 |
| 4 | US20090312817A1 | Systems and methods for altering brain and body functions and for treating conditions and diseases of the same | 410 |
| 5 | US20070250119A1 | Systems and methods for altering brain and body functions and for treating conditions and diseases of the same | 351 |
| 6 | US20170079530A1 | Reflective mode multi-spectral time-resolved optical imaging methods and apparatuses for tissue classification | 327 |
| 7 | US20090306741A1 | Systems and methods for altering brain and body functions and for treating conditions and diseases of the same | 283 |
| 8 | US20080221442A1 | Imaging for use with moving organs | 278 |
| 9 | US20120203785A1 | Item and user tracking | 268 |
| 10 | US20130314593A1 | Vision assistive devices and user interfaces | 265 |
Citation counts reflect influence within this searched corpus and favour older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
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 Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Run it yourself
Put your own technology through the same analysis
Where to run it
For builders
MCP server & REST API
When it has to run inside your own pipeline.
Patent search, landscape analysis and assignee resolution as MCP tools. Drop them into any agent framework, or call REST directly.
Browse MCP servers →Insights
What the data means for filing strategy
Three patterns in the numbers matter more than the raw counts: where filing volume sits relative to publication lag, how concentrated the leadership actually is, and which IPC classes carry the claim density.
Momentum
+26%
2021 → 2024 filings
Growth is real but the last two years understate it
Filings rose from 62 in 2021 to 78 in 2024, and the field peaked at 118 in 2023. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts will climb as more filings surface — reading them as a slowdown would be a misread of the data, not a signal about the field.
Based on complete-year filing counts, 2021–2024.
Concentration
24.2%
Top 5 of 798 records
Led, not locked down
The top five assignees combine for 24.2% of all 798 records, and the top ten reach 36.1%. That leaves the majority of filings spread across the remaining ranked leaders and unranked entrants, meaning new filers are still entering active claim space rather than facing a settled oligopoly.
Top 5 and top 10 shares are of all 798 records in scope.
Claim density
30.3%
A61B share of records
Diagnosis and surgery carries the densest claim traffic
A61B touches 30.3% of the 798 records, well ahead of G06F (18.5%) and G16H (18.3%). Filers entering diagnosis-and-surgery-adjacent rehabilitation claims should expect denser prior art than in physical therapy or implant-specific classes.
IPC shares sum to more than 100% because records carry multiple classes.
Under-claimed branch
6.4%
A61H share of records
Physical therapy and massage is comparatively open
A61H sits at just 6.4% of records, and A61F (implants and prostheses) at 10.8% — both well below the electronics- and informatics-heavy classes. That gap is worth checking against specific device geometries before assuming it is truly open, but the raw claim density is lower.
IPC share of all 798 records in scope.
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 rehabilitation & assistive devices patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Who's Filing
Leaders, momentum and where the gate sits
The assignee ranking covers 100 companies counted by patent family. Leadership is real but not overwhelming: the top filer holds 97 records, fifth place holds 21, and tenth place holds 18 — a steep drop-off after the leader, then a long, gradual tail.
Leader
97
Records, leading assignee
One clear leader, then a steep drop
The leading assignee holds 97 records, well ahead of fifth place at 21 and tenth place at 18. That gap suggests one filer built an early, sustained program while the rest of the field files more sporadically.
Counted by patent family across 798 records.
Mid-tier
18
Records, tenth place
A shallow tail after the top ten
By tenth place, volume has fallen to 18 records, and the top ten combined reach only 36.1% of all 798 records. Most of the corpus sits with assignees outside the ranked leaders, filing in smaller numbers.
Top 10 share is of all 798 records in scope.
Collaboration
10
Co-assignee pairs
Co-filing is limited and concentrated on one hub
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, and the strongest pairs all involve the same central filer paired with different named inventors. Cross-company joint filing is not yet a common pattern in this space.
Co-assignee pairs counted across all 798 records.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Ryvu Therapeutics | 1 | — |
| CALMWAVE INC | 0 | -100% |
| MedRhythms LLC | 0 | — |
| Kungshi Corporation | 0 | -100% |
| WICAB | 0 | — |
| Footfalls & Heartbeats (UK) Ltd | 0 | — |
| Onward Medical NV | 0 | — |
| Spectral MD Inc | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this next
The dataset points to specific follow-up questions rather than a single verdict — which branches are genuinely open, which claims are hardest to design around, and how the leading filer's portfolio actually reads at the claim level.
Map the white space precisely
IPC-level shares show A61H and A61F are comparatively thin, but confirming that at the claim level for a specific device geometry needs a targeted search, not just the subclass count.
Explore white space in Eureka →Check what the leader actually blocks
A 97-record leader is worth reading claim-by-claim before committing to a design direction, especially where its filings overlap A61B and A61N.
Run a claim comparison in Eureka →Watch the 2025–2026 filings as they publish
Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the current trend understates 2025 activity; revisit the filing curve once those records catch up.
Track filing trends in Eureka →Source: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about rehabilitation and assistive device patents
The assignee ranking covers 100 companies counted by patent family, and it is not a top-50 or top-100 list in the conventional sense — it is the full ranking the dataset returns. One assignee leads clearly with 97 records, while fifth place holds 21 and tenth place holds 18, showing a steep drop after the leader followed by a long, gradual tail of smaller filers. Together the top five hold 24.2% of all 798 records and the top ten hold 36.1%, meaning most filings in the field sit outside the most active few companies.
Filing volume grew from 62 records in 2021 to 78 in 2024, a 26% increase over that span, with a peak of 118 filings in 2023. Because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the lower counts shown for 2025 and 2026 reflect incomplete data rather than an actual slowdown. Any assessment of momentum should rely on complete years — 2024 and earlier — rather than the most recent partial years.
A61B, covering diagnosis and surgery, appears on 30.3% of the 798 records in scope, making it the densest class. G06F (electric digital data processing) and G16H (healthcare informatics) follow at 18.5% and 18.3% respectively, reflecting how much rehabilitation and assistive-device filing now involves software and data alongside hardware. A61H, physical therapy and massage, carries the lowest share among the tracked classes at 6.4%, which is worth investigating as a comparatively open branch.
US20180133089A1, filed by Hefei University of Technology and published 2018-05-17, describes a smart medical rehabilitation device combining a driving unit, linkage mechanism, sensing unit and rehabilitation evaluating unit on a single frame, aimed at assisting lower-limb rehabilitation training. It is representative of a recurring design pattern in this corpus: a mechanical slide-and-link mechanism paired with sensing and evaluation logic. Anyone designing a similar mechanical rehabilitation trainer with integrated physiological assessment should review its claims closely before finalizing a device architecture.
The field shows moderate concentration: the top five assignees hold 24.2% of all 798 records and the top ten hold 36.1%, leaving nearly two-thirds of filings distributed among the remaining ranked companies and unranked entrants. Co-assignee collaboration is limited, with only 10 co-assignee pairs identified across the whole corpus, suggesting most filers work independently rather than in joint programs. Combined with under-claimed IPC branches such as A61H and A61F, this points to real room for new entrants, particularly in physical therapy and implant-adjacent device categories.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Research Rehabilitation & Assistive Devices Patent Landscape in depth with Eureka
Go past this page: query the whole rehabilitation & assistive devices patent landscape corpus yourself, in your own scope.
Every answer comes back with patent numbers you can open.
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.