The medical devices industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by increased need for homecare, preventative treatments, early diagnosis, reducing patient recovery times and improving outcomes, as well as a growing importance in technologies, such as machine learning, augmented reality, 5G and digitalization. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the medical devices industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Cybersecurity in Medical Devices: Data masking for privacy.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 550,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the medical devices industry, there are 150+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Data masking for privacy is a key innovation area in cybersecurity
Data masking, also referred to as data obfuscation, is an authentication measure that protects patients’ electronic health records (EHR) from cybercriminals or when data needs to be shared with third-party organizations for research and analysis. This process allows healthcare providers to manage sensitive data and conceal it from unauthorized users.
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 20+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established medical devices companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of data masking for privacy.
Key players in data masking for privacy – a disruptive innovation in the medical devices 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 data masking for privacy
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
DexCom is one of the leading patent filers in the field of data masking for privacy. Some other key patent filers in the field include Bluefin Payment Systems and International Business Machines (IBM).
In terms of application diversity, Tesseract Health leads the pack, followed by Akamai Technologies and Medixine. By means of geographic reach, Nant Holdings holds the top position, followed by Accenture and The Boeing, in second and third spots, respectively.
Owing to the pandemic, the preference for teleconsultations has increased, leading to possible data breaches and subsequently, the need for data masking to protect sensitive patient data. Companies developing this technology must consider factors, such as reducing dependency on biometrics and ensuring that data masking is automated, for large scale implementation without the risk of losing data.
To further understand how cybersecurity is disrupting the medical devices industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cybersecurity in Medical Devices.
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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.
