Company patents
SMITH & NEPHEW ORTHOPAEDICS AG
SMITH & NEPHEW ORTHOPAEDICS AG's patent strategy reveals a strong, sustained focus on its core 'Medical Diagnostics & Surgery' category, which comprises 83.8% of its portfolio and saw a significant 47.3% growth in 2025. Surprisingly, despite its medical device focus, the company is rapidly expanding its patenting in 'Machine Learning & AI' (5.5% of portfolio, +333.3% YoY in 2025) and 'Optical Elements & Systems' (5.3% of portfolio, +300.0% YoY in 2025), indicating an emerging emphasis on integrating advanced computing and optical technologies into its medical solutions, though patenting in these areas has slowed so far in 2026.
Patent Trend by Technology Area
Yearly patent publications since 2023
Product themes
Product-level themes inferred from filings since 2023, with category chips showing where each theme appears. Select a theme to filter the patents below.
433 US filings (since 2023) · 11 categories · 16 themes
Focuses on the mechanical design, articulation, and actuation of hand-held or robotic surgical instruments, including improvements in stapling, cutting, grasping, and tissue manipulation.
Systems and methods that use imaging technologies, computer vision, and augmented reality to provide real-time guidance, localization, and visualization during surgical procedures or for detailed anatomical assessment.
Implantable devices used for the fixation, fusion, or replacement of bone structures, particularly in the spine and extremities.
Devices and software systems designed to facilitate physical rehabilitation, track human movement, evaluate posture, or assess biomechanical parameters for injury recovery, surgical planning, or performance improvement.
Design and application of devices that are inserted into the body or implanted to treat diseases, modulate physiological functions, or repair anatomical structures.
Integrated systems and specialized instruments for performing delicate surgical procedures on the eye, often involving the delivery, manipulation, or monitoring of ophthalmic implants.
Engineering and material considerations for devices used in minimally invasive procedures, focusing on mechanical properties, deployment mechanisms, and interaction with biological tissues.
Materials and structures designed for implantation or tissue regeneration, focusing on properties like biodegradability, mechanical strength, cellular integration, and long-term in-vivo stability.
Methods and systems for improving the quality of video streams, generating intermediate frames, or continuously locating and following objects within a sequence of images, even under occlusion.
Methods and apparatus for improving the visual fidelity, resolution, or compression efficiency of video signals, often through advanced processing, up-scaling, or neural network-based filters.
Processes for creating or manipulating three-dimensional digital representations of objects or environments, including mesh generation, surface fitting, and depth estimation from multiple views.
Systems that combine data from multiple camera sensors or capture multiple images from different perspectives or qualities, often involving image processing techniques like synthesis to create enhanced or comprehensive views.
Implantable devices designed to repair, replace, or assist the function of blood vessels or heart structures, including stents, valves, and annuloplasty rings.
Utilizing machine learning, particularly deep learning, to analyze medical data such as images, sensor readings, or physiological signals for disease prediction, diagnosis, or treatment assessment.
Systems that integrate digital technology, sensors, or connectivity to monitor, track, or automate aspects of medication administration, often providing data feedback, personalized recommendations, or secure logging.
Techniques for building three-dimensional metal objects layer-by-layer using metal powders, including powder bed fusion, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition. This theme encompasses process mechanics, equipment design, and operational control for AM systems.
Patents
Showing 1-10 of 10
Video Quality & Encoding Optimization