How many medical robot patents have been
filed?
Robot technology used in various industries is becoming more sophisticated by combining artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and augmented reality (AR). The robotics industry that provides medical services is also continuously growing. Medical robots include robots for surgery performing/assisting or simulating, robots for diagnosis/inspection, rehabilitation robots, and pharmaceutical robots. According to the Macquarie Consortium, the global medical robot market will grow from $1.7 billion in 2017 to $13.4 billion in 2025, and surgery-related robots account for more than 70% of the market.(1) If so, I wonder how many patents related to medical robots have been filed? In this issue, we will look at the flow of patent applications related to medical robots over the past 20 years.
Medical-related robot patents filed in the
United States, China, Korea, Japan, and Europe have steadily increased since
the 2000s, and have risen sharply since 2015. In particular, the number of
applications filed in China increased sharply. It has overtaken the United
States in terms of total application volume. Currently, about 43% of all
patents are filed in China, with the US accounting for about 28%. According to
the Chinese government (National Food and Drug Administration), the medical
robot market in China has grown at a CAGR of 10% since 2014, surpassing USD 130
million in 2018, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% over the next five
years. do. In the past, it had grown centered on rehabilitation robots based on
active government policies, but it is expected that surgical robots will become
the mainstay in the future. (2)
Which applicant has applied the most?
Founded in 1995, Intuitive Surgical is
dominating the surgical robot market with its surgical robot ‘Da Vinci’. The
number of patent applications is also high. Covidien, in second place, is a
manufacturer of medical devices such as surgical suture devices. They’ve
applied for a number of patents related to surgical robots. In 2015, it was
acquired by Medtronic, a multinational medical device, service and solution
company. Metronic grew the size by acquiring Mazor Robotics, a spinal surgical
robot company in 2018.
Ethicon, which took 3rd place, and Auris Health, which took 4th place, that specialize in surgical robots are subsidiaries of global healthcare company Johnson&Johnson. In addition, Johnson & Johnson secured significant patents by acquiring the remaining stake in Verb Surgical, a surgical robot company established in a joint venture with Alphabet. The filing size of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies as a whole is not small. In fact, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic have been continuously pursuing M&A with surgical robot companies. In the competition between the strongest Intuitive Surgical, Medtronic, and Johnson & Johnson, it would be interesting to see what changes in the future.
Also, looking at the proportion of applications by country, Chinese applicants are very concentrated in the domestic applications, while Philips (the Netherlands) and CMR Surgical (UK) have applied evenly. You may be curious about the double CMR Surgical. As a start-up related to surgical robots, they are developing a surgical robot system ‘Versius’. Since its founding in 2014, it has secured an investment approaching $1 billion and is currently attracting attention as it is valued at $3 billion.(3)
Let's check the competitive of patents!
Patents are not only about quantity, but
also about quality. This time, we will check the IP competitiveness of the top
applicants by using the SmartAngle of WIPS Global. We can look at the quality
level along with commercial skill level. We used the results of analysis of
technology impact index (CPP) and market power (PFS) in accordance with the
applicant/applicant's nationality. There is a contrasting result between the
1st and 2nd places. Intuitive Surgical has a relatively strong market
dominance, while Ethicon has a strong technological influence.
On the other hand, Aurisj Health's market power is not strong, but its technological influence is above average. Abbott shows a similar trend. St. Jude Medical (established in 1976), acquired by Abbott, an American medical device company in 2017, specializes in heart-related diagnosis and treatment. They developed an artificial heart valve and later launched the world's first defibrillator based on a 4-pole electrode system. They have mainly applied for a patent related to the catheter (thin surgical tube) robot system that can be used for cardiovascular treatment.
Top 5 applicants by country,
China has been actively fostering the
industrial robot market by declaring ‘The Rise of Robots’ in 2016. Applications
from the Chinese national research institutes, the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS) and Harbin Institute of Technology, appeared at the top of the list. Edge
Medical, which took 5th place, also stands out. As a medical robot startup
established in Shenzhen in 2017, it is developing a laparoscopic surgical robot
capable of minimally invasive surgery and has recently received an investment of
$90 million.(4)
Next, we will look at the top applicants
from Europe, Korea and Japan.
In Korea, besides Intuitive Surgical, Mirae
Company and Curexo have the most applications, followed by Hanyang University
and Samsung Electronics. Established in 1984, Mirae Company started out as an
industrial equipment company, but entered the surgical robot and 3D sensor
market to diversify its business. They are selling Revo-i, a laparoscopic
surgical robot. Meanwhile, Curexo, established in 2006, sells the nation's No.
1 artificial joint and spinal surgery robot, Cuvis. It has been confirmed that
Samsung Electronics has also applied for patents related to surgical robots and
rehabilitation robots.
What are the key keywords?
Let's take a look at the technology
keywords with WIPS Global' SmartCloud. Smart Cloud is the result of keyword
clustering applied with artificial intelligence technology. Obviously, there
are many keywords related to Surgical Instrument/Robot/Tool as the proportion
of surgical robots is high in the medical robot field. Excluding them, End
Effector has the most. An end effector is a device/tool at the end of a robot
arm, which can be thought of as a human hand. In addition, you can check
fixedly connected, Connecting Rod, Rehabilitation Training, Tail End, etc.
footnote-------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------ -----
1. How far has service robot technology
gone? 2017.09. 18
(https://www.hellot.net/news/article.html?no=36416
)
2. Chinese medical robots that threaten the
US and Europe, how they have grown, 2021.02.08
(https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=01354646628948552&mediaCodeNo=257
)
3. CMR Surgical, SoftBank, etc. attract
$600 million in investment 2021.6.30
(https://www.irobotnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=25449
)
4. Chinese medical robot company 'Edge
Medical Robotics' attracts investment of 92.6 million dollars, 2021.01.28
(https://www.irobotnews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=23768
)
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