Patent Analysis for Identifying Core Technology and Forecasting Promising Technology in Medical Imaging Equipment

Medical imaging equipment (MIE) is regarded as a crucial facility in the 21st century. Its noninvasive and safe nature in providing diagnostic images or guiding treatments has garnered significant attention from global health organizations. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on core and promising technologies in MIE, resulting in insufficient information for government investment decision-making. To address this research gap, this article presents a three-stage patent mining framework. First, patents are scored using the entropy-weight and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution method. Then, the LDA model is applied to identify core technology in MIE based on topic intensity and average patent scores within each topic. Among the identified core technologies, the novelty calculation further confirms that “endoscopy” and “radiation therapy” are promising technologies in medical imaging. Last, the article discusses the distribution and competition landscape of each technology across countries. The findings of this article offer guidance for government investments in MIE and provide data support for decision-making by research and development institutions.