The healthcare industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by telemedicine, real-time diagnostics, smart hospitals and access to digital therapies, as well as the growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality (AR), robotics and data management practices. In the last three years alone, there have been over 106,000 patents filed and granted in the healthcare industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Connected blood sampling devices.
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
200+ innovations will shape the healthcare industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the healthcare industry using innovation intensity models built on over 443,000 patents, there are 200+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, drug delivery device security, microscopic image analysis models, and cellular imaging techniques are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Smart balloon catheters, automated immunoassay analysers, and AI-assisted MRI are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are smart fitness training system and non-invasive physiological monitoring which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry
Connected blood sampling devices is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
Blood sampling devices stay connected via a system called radio-frequency identification (RFID). RFID blood monitoring systems help to monitor donated blood in hospitals and blood banks. Each unit of blood in the RFID system has an electronic tag attached to it that carries data on the donor, the blood group it belongs to, and other details, as well as the place where the blood was kept or analysed. It aids medical professionals in keeping track of various blood group types and ensuring their availability in hospitals when required.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 500+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established healthcare companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of connected blood sampling devices.
Key players in connected blood sampling devices – a disruptive innovation in the healthcare industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to connected blood sampling devices
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Medtronic is one of the leading patent filers in the field of connected blood sampling devices. Some other key patent filers in the field include Koninklijke Philips, NIKE and F. Hoffmann-La Roche.
In terms of application diversity, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries leads the pack, followed by Platinum Equity and ResMed. By means of geographic reach, Platinum Equity held the top position, followed by Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries and Bayer in second and third spots, respectively.
The main aspect boosting demand for connected blood sampling devices is its numerous advantages over traditional blood tracking and monitoring techniques, such as barcodes, minimising human error and simplifying the regulation of clinical data in healthcare inventories. Future usage of these devices is projected to rise because of a centralised platform that enables medical practitioners to actively monitor blood data and an increase in the deployment of RFID blood monitoring systems by blood banks and hospitals.
To further understand how artificial intelligence is disrupting the healthcare industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Healthcare.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
