Innovation in remote patient monitoring: Leading companies in remote ocular diagnosis for the medical devices industry

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 digitalisation. 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 Remote Patient Monitoring in Medical Devices: Remote ocular diagnosis.

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. 

Remote ocular diagnosis is a key innovation area in remote patient monitoring

Remote ocular diagnosis is part of synchronous teleophthalmology where physicians provide eye care over a remote network through automated image detection and image classification techniques. Through teleophthalmology, doctors will be able to diagnose, analyse data and provide a treatment plan for vision-threatening disorders (VTDs) such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract.

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 40+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established medical devices companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of remote ocular diagnosis.

Key players in remote ocular diagnosis – 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 remote ocular diagnosis

Magic Leap is one of the leading patent filers in the field of remote ocular diagnosis. Some other key patent filers in the field include Baxter International, Johnson & Johnson, and Canon.

In terms of application diversity, Eyenuk leads the pack, followed by ArcSoft, Medi Whale, and Tesseract Health. By means of geographic reach, Autonomix Medical holds the top position, followed by Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine and Rodenstock in second and third spots, respectively.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teleophthalmology has become a preferred choice for both patients and physicians.  Teleophthalmology provides easy access to patient data, that will lead to early detection and timely treatment for various ocular conditions such as retinopathy and glaucoma. Availing remote consultation is cost-effective for patients while receiving quality care. Future prospects for remote ocular diagnosis include automated detection techniques for eye-related complications.

To further understand how remote patient monitoring is disrupting the medical devices industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Remote Patient Monitoring Devices (2021).

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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.

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