Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
World Neurosurg. 2020 May;137:e395-e405. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.01.223. Epub 2020 Feb 5.
Historically, practicing neurosurgeons have been key drivers of neurosurgical innovation. We sought to describe the patents held by U.S. academic neurosurgeons and to explore the relationship between patents and royalties received.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid CMS Open Payments Data was used to identify academic neurosurgeons who had received royalties and royalty amounts during a 5-year period (2013-2017). Online patent databases were used to gather patent details. Patent citations and 5-year individual and departmental patent Hirsch (h)-indexes were calculated. Royalties were correlated with the number of patents, patent citations, and patent h-index.
We found that 119 academic neurosurgeons (7.8%) from 57 U.S. teaching programs (48.3%) had received royalty payments; 72 (60.5%) had published 648 patents. All surgeons were men, with approximately one half in the "late" stages of their career (45.3%) and subspecializing in spinal surgery (50.4%). The patented products or devices were most commonly used for spinal surgery (72.1%), with 2010-2019 the most productive period (n = 455; 70.2%). The median number of citations per patent was 32 (range, 0-620), with 33% having ≥100 citations. The highest individual and institutional patent h-index was 95; 25 (34.7%) neurosurgeons had a patent h-index of ≥5. The median total royalty payment per individual neurosurgeon was $111,011 (range, $58.05-$76,715,750.34). Royalties were correlated with the number of patents (Spearman r = 0.37; P ≤ 0.001), citations (Spearman r, 0.38; P ≤ 0.001), and inventor h-index (Spearman r = 0.38; P ≤ 0.001).
Few U.S. academic neurosurgeons (7.8%) receive royalties and hold patents (4.7%), with an even smaller select group having a patent h-index of ≥5 (1.6%).
历史上，从事神经外科的医生一直是神经外科学创新的主要推动者。我们旨在描述美国学术神经外科医生持有的专利，并探讨专利与获得的专利费之间的关系。
使用医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心（CMS）的公开支付数据来确定在 5 年期间（2013-2017 年）获得专利费和专利费金额的学术神经外科医生。使用在线专利数据库收集专利详细信息。计算专利引文和 5 年个人和部门专利 Hirsch（h）指数。将专利费与专利数量、专利引文和专利 h 指数相关联。
我们发现，来自 57 个美国教学计划（48.3%）的 119 名学术神经外科医生（7.8%）获得了专利费；72 人（60.5%）发表了 648 项专利。所有外科医生均为男性，约有一半处于职业生涯的“晚期”（45.3%），并专门从事脊柱外科手术（50.4%）。专利产品或设备主要用于脊柱外科手术（72.1%），2010-2019 年是最具生产力的时期（n=455；70.2%）。每项专利的平均引文数为 32（范围为 0-620），有 33%的专利引文数≥100。个人和机构专利 h 指数的最高值为 95；25 名（34.7%）神经外科医生的专利 h 指数≥5。每位神经外科医生的专利费中位数为 111,011 美元（范围为 58.05-76715750.34 美元）。专利费与专利数量（Spearman r=0.37；P≤0.001）、引文（Spearman r=0.38；P≤0.001）和发明人 h 指数（Spearman r=0.38；P≤0.001）相关。
美国学术神经外科医生（7.8%）获得专利费并持有专利（4.7%）的人数较少，仅有一小部分（1.6%）的人拥有专利 h 指数≥5。
