BACKGROUND: The significant impact of digital health emerged prominently during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, there is a paucity of bibliometric analyses focusing on technologies within the field of digital health patents. Patents offer a wealth of insights into technologies, commercial prospects, and competitive landscapes, often undisclosed in other publications. Given the rapid evolution of the digital health industry, safeguarding algorithms, software, and advanced surgical devices through patent systems is imperative. The patent system simultaneously acts as a valuable repository of technological knowledge, accessible to researchers. This accessibility facilitates the enhancement of existing technologies and the advancement of medical equipment, ultimately contributing to public health improvement and meeting public demands.
OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study is to gain a more profound understanding of technology hotspots and development trends within the field of digital health.
METHODS: Using a bibliometric analysis methodology, we assessed the global technological output reflected in patents on digital health published between 2017 and 2021. Using Citespace5.1R8 and Excel 2016, we conducted bibliometric visualization and comparative analyses of key metrics, including national contributions, institutional affiliations, inventor profiles, and technology topics.
RESULTS: A total of 15,763 digital health patents were identified as published between 2017 and 2021. The China National Intellectual Property Administration secured the top position with 7253 published patents, whereas Koninklijke Philips emerged as the leading institution with 329 patents. Notably, Assaf Govari emerged as the most prolific inventor. Technology hot spots encompassed categories such as \"Medical Equipment and Information Systems,\" \"Image Analysis,\" and \"Electrical Diagnosis,\" classified by Derwent Manual Code. A patent related to the technique of receiving and transmitting data through microchips garnered the highest citation, attributed to the patentee Covidien LP.
CONCLUSIONS: The trajectory of digital health patents has been growing since 2017, primarily propelled by China, the United States, and Japan. Applications in health interventions and enhancements in surgical devices represent the predominant scenarios for digital health technology. Algorithms emerged as the pivotal technologies protected by patents, whereas techniques related to data transfer, storage, and exchange in the digital health domain are anticipated to be focal points in forthcoming basic research.

Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapy, an advanced therapeutic technology comprising antibodies, chemical linkers, and cytotoxic payloads, addresses the limitations of traditional chemotherapy. This study explores key elements of ADC therapy, focusing on antibody development, linker design, and cytotoxic payload delivery. The global rise in cancer incidence has driven increased investment in anticancer agents, resulting in significant growth in the ADC therapy market. Over the past two decades, notable progress has been made, with approvals for 14 ADC treatments targeting various cancers by 2022. Diverse ADC therapies for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors have emerged, with numerous candidates currently undergoing clinical trials. Recent years have seen a noteworthy increase in ADC therapy clinical trials, marked by the initiation of numerous new therapies in 2022. Research and development, coupled with patent applications, have intensified, notably from major companies like Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY, USA), AbbVie Pharmaceuticals Inc. (USA), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Tarrytown, NY, USA), and Seagen Inc. (Bothell, WA, USA). While ADC therapy holds great promise in anticancer treatment, challenges persist, including premature payload release and immune-related side effects. Ongoing research and innovation are crucial for advancing ADC therapy. Future developments may include novel conjugation methods, stable linker designs, efficient payload delivery technologies, and integration with nanotechnology, driving the evolution of ADC therapy in anticancer treatment.

The atomic magnetometer is currently one of the most-sensitive sensors and plays an important role in applications for detecting weak magnetic fields. This review reports the recent progress of total-field atomic magnetometers that are one important ramification of such magnetometers, which can reach the technical level for engineering applications. The alkali-metal magnetometers, helium magnetometers, and coherent population-trapping magnetometers are included in this review. Besides, the technology trend of atomic magnetometers was analyzed for the purpose of providing a certain reference for developing the technologies in such magnetometers and for exploring their applications.

Digital technology trends for mental health, instantiated with only emerging use cases or already established applications, offer significant potential to improve clinical therapy and care. In this paper, we identify five major trends, mHealth/eHealth, telehealth, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and biosensors/wearables; describe seven specific technology use cases for mental health care and psychotherapy; and provide an overview of their maturity in practice.

Educational technologies have captured the attention of researchers, policy makers, and parents. Each year, considerable effort and money are invested into new technologies, hoping to find the next effective learning tool. However, technology changes rapidly and little attention is paid to the changes after they occur. This paper provides an overall picture of the changing trends in educational technology by analyzing the Horizon Reports\' predictions of the most influential educational technologies from 2011 to 2021, identifying larger trends across these yearly predictions, and by using bibliometric analysis to evaluate the accuracy of the identified trends. The results suggest that mobile and analytics technologies trended consistently across the period, there was a trend towards maker technologies and games in the early part of the decade, and emerging technologies (e.g., VR, AI) are predicted to trend in the future. Overall, the specific technologies focused on by the HRs\' predictions and by educational researchers\' publications seem to coincide with the availability of consumer grade technologies, suggesting that the marketplace and technology industry is driving trends (cf., pedagogy or theory).