The dataset ranks 100 assignees by record count, and the field is heavily concentrated at the top: the leading assignee alone holds 562 of the 2,170 records in scope, and the top five combined account for 47.8% of all records. By the tenth position, individual counts have fallen to 34 records, meaning the bulk of the ranked list is a long tail of smaller filers. Anyone assessing competitive risk should focus freedom-to-operate work on the leading handful of portfolios first, since they cover a disproportionate share of the claim space.

Filing volume peaked in 2021 at 252 records and had fallen to 94 by 2024, a 63% decline over that three-year span. That should not be read as declining interest in the technology itself; publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any dataset are always undercounted. The decline from a clear 2021 peak, however, is a real signal that the highest-volume filing period for foundational mechanical approaches has likely passed.

The dominant IPC subclass is A61B, covering diagnosis and surgery methods, present in 80.9% of the 2,170 records in scope. A61F (implants and prostheses) and A61M (devices for handling body fluids) each appear in roughly a third of records, reflecting the dual nature of these devices as both surgical instruments and implantable-adjacent hardware. Smaller classes — sterilisation, welding/brazing, braiding, healthcare informatics and therapeutic compounds — each cover under 3% of records and represent comparatively lighter claim density.