Abstract:Objective To comprehend the patent research of clinical nursing appliance, patent applications, and trend in patent research, and to provide data support and reference for technical development, patent protection and transformation of clinical nursing appliance. Methods Chinese patent database, Incopat patent database and European Patent Office (EPO) database were searched, to retrieve patents information of clinical nursing appliance invented by domestic Chinese in the last 20 years. The retrieved literature was processed with quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, text mining, etc., and other information processing technologies. Results From 1999 to 2018, there were 84 898 patents applications invented by domestic Chinese. Patent applications in clinical nursing appliance were grouped into 21 technical categories, among which, patent applications in pulse heart rate, blood pressure, and blood flow measurement were in the majority. The top 3 countries having the most patent applications included China(84 898 patents), US(78 673 patents), Japan (39 409 patents).The patents were invented by individuals (46.86%), enterprises (35.61%), and organizations (10.36%). Conclusion The research and development of patents for clinical nursing appliances at home and abroad was booming. However, there were still shortcomings in researches of patents in China. In the future, we need to carry out global patent layout based on the combination of research hot spots and core technologies. At the same time, we need to establish and improve patent management systems and patent information service systems, strengthen multidisciplinary cooperation and the guidance of value orientation, in an effort to improve the research quality of clinical nursing appliance patents.
