Ailia Muhammad Joan, Thakur Nishant, Abdul-Ghafar Jamshid, Jung Chan Kwon, Yim Kwangil, Chong Yosep
Department of Hospital Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 May 13;14(10):2400. doi: 10.3390/cancers14102400.
The integration of digital pathology (DP) with artificial intelligence (AI) enables faster, more accurate, and thorough diagnoses, leading to more precise personalized treatment. As technology is advancing rapidly, it is critical to understand the current state of AI applications in DP. Therefore, a patent analysis of AI in DP is required to assess the application and publication trends, major assignees, and leaders in the field. We searched five major patent databases, namely, those of the USPTO, EPO, KIPO, JPO, and CNIPA, from 1974 to 2021, using keywords such as DP, AI, machine learning, and deep learning. We discovered 6284 patents, 523 of which were used for trend analyses on time series, international distribution, top assignees; word cloud analysis; and subject category analyses. Patent filing and publication have increased exponentially over the past five years. The United States has published the most patents, followed by China and South Korea (248, 117, and 48, respectively). The top assignees were Paige.AI, Inc. (New York City, NY, USA) and Siemens, Inc. (Munich, Germany) The primary areas were whole-slide imaging, segmentation, classification, and detection. Based on these findings, we expect a surge in DP and AI patent applications focusing on the digitalization of pathological images and AI technologies that support the vital role of pathologists.
数字病理学（DP）与人工智能（AI）的整合能够实现更快、更准确、更全面的诊断，从而带来更精确的个性化治疗。随着技术的快速发展，了解人工智能在数字病理学中的应用现状至关重要。因此，需要对数字病理学中的人工智能进行专利分析，以评估其应用和发表趋势、主要受让人以及该领域的领先者。我们在1974年至2021年期间检索了五个主要专利数据库，即美国专利商标局（USPTO）、欧洲专利局（EPO）、韩国知识产权局（KIPO）、日本专利局（JPO）和中国国家知识产权局（CNIPA），使用了数字病理学、人工智能、机器学习和深度学习等关键词。我们发现了6284项专利，其中523项用于时间序列、国际分布、顶级受让人的趋势分析；词云分析；以及主题类别分析。在过去五年中，专利申请和发表呈指数级增长。美国发表的专利最多，其次是中国和韩国（分别为248项、117项和48项）。顶级受让人是Paige.AI公司（美国纽约市）和西门子公司（德国慕尼黑）。主要领域包括全切片成像、分割、分类和检测。基于这些发现，我们预计专注于病理图像数字化和支持病理学家重要作用的人工智能技术的数字病理学和人工智能专利申请将激增。
