G02B 23/2461
Illumination
Official title: {Illumination}
G02B23/2461 (Illumination) appears on 1,301 US grants and 1,587 published applications in this corpus.
Search patents in G02B- Granted patents
- 1,301
- Published applications
- 1,587
- Assignees
- 391
- Inventors
- 1,951
- Latest grant
- 29 Sep 2026
Filings by year
| Year | Granted patents | Published applications |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 1 | 0 |
| 1977 | 2 | 0 |
| 1978 | 2 | 0 |
| 1979 | 0 | 0 |
| 1980 | 0 | 0 |
| 1981 | 3 | 0 |
| 1982 | 2 | 0 |
| 1983 | 3 | 0 |
| 1984 | 0 | 0 |
| 1985 | 1 | 0 |
| 1986 | 7 | 0 |
| 1987 | 10 | 0 |
| 1988 | 6 | 0 |
| 1989 | 5 | 0 |
| 1990 | 7 | 0 |
| 1991 | 6 | 0 |
| 1992 | 5 | 0 |
| 1993 | 12 | 0 |
| 1994 | 4 | 0 |
| 1995 | 3 | 0 |
| 1996 | 3 | 0 |
| 1997 | 3 | 0 |
| 1998 | 5 | 0 |
| 1999 | 14 | 0 |
| 2000 | 3 | 0 |
| 2001 | 8 | 3 |
| 2002 | 10 | 5 |
| 2003 | 5 | 10 |
| 2004 | 9 | 7 |
| 2005 | 5 | 12 |
| 2006 | 5 | 18 |
| 2007 | 7 | 38 |
| 2008 | 8 | 27 |
| 2009 | 15 | 41 |
| 2010 | 22 | 41 |
| 2011 | 23 | 37 |
| 2012 | 30 | 38 |
| 2013 | 36 | 59 |
| 2014 | 46 | 74 |
| 2015 | 58 | 66 |
| 2016 | 42 | 113 |
| 2017 | 80 | 203 |
| 2018 | 89 | 158 |
| 2019 | 132 | 142 |
| 2020 | 142 | 113 |
| 2021 | 98 | 117 |
| 2022 | 89 | 67 |
| 2023 | 65 | 65 |
| 2024 | 82 | 61 |
| 2025 | 54 | 47 |
| 2026 | 34 | 25 |
By publication year. Applications have been published since 2001. 2026 runs to 8 Oct.
Subgroups
Granted patents
Recent patents
- Illumination sources for multicore fiber endoscopes29 Sep 2026US 12,745,900 B2Zsquare Ltd.
- Insertion apparatus and endoscope8 Sep 2026US 12,727,752 B2Olympus Corporation
- Optical fiber having an expanded light pattern8 Sep 2026US 12,727,960 B2Katalyst Surgical, LLC
- Endoscope8 Sep 2026US 12,730,299 B2Hoya Corporation
- Method for supplementing a component of a medical instrument25 Aug 2026US 12,714,296 B2KARL STORZ GmbH&Co.KG
- Imaging System Including Two Image Sensors Enabling Multiple Imaging Modes24 Sep 2026US 2026/0287881 A1KARL STORZ GmbH&Co.KG
- Medical instrumentation utilizing narrowband imaging24 Sep 2026US 2026/0292322 A1Nsv LLC
- Disposable endoscope using plastic gradient-index lens27 Aug 2026US 2026/0251896 A1
- Medical Illumination Device for Medical Instrument,and Method for Supplying a Light Beam to a Medical Instrument20 Aug 2026US 2026/0240425 A1KARL STORZ GmbH&Co.KG
- Enhanced multicore fiber endoscopes6 Aug 2026US 2026/0224101 A1Zsquare Ltd.
Most cited
By later US patents
- Endoscope1,018US 9,829,698 B2Panasonic Corporation · 2017
- Endoscopic system with a solid-state light source290US 6,692,431 B2Smith & Nephew, Inc. · 2004
- Methods and devices for facilitating visualization in a surgical environment277US 7,559,925 B2Acclarent, Inc. · 2009
- Dual-view probe for illumination and imaging, and use thereof252US 10,536,617 B2Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona · 2020
- Arrangements and methods for providing multimodality microscopic imaging of one or more biological structures195US 7,872,759 B2The General Hospital Corporation · 2011