Technological origination and evolution analysis by combining patent claims and citations: A case of surgical robot domain.

How to carry out an effective and automatic analysis for a technological field based on extensive patent data has always been an interesting and meaningful question. In this paper, we propose a framework to reveal the technology fusion and evolution process of a domain by combining patent claims and citations. First, we consider patent claims as technical elements, based on which the development process of a domain can be studied in a more detailed way. Second, the important technical elements appearing in different periods can be obtained through calculating the importance values. They can reveal the changing process of valuable techniques in various periods from a micro perspective. Third, we propose a method for constructing the technological development main paths of a domain from the perspective of technical details. Fourth, based on the proposed main paths, an approach is raised to explore the fusion and evolution process of a domain through a technological origin and development analysis. Finally, the proposed framework is applied to surgical robot domain for discovering some interesting and meaningful insights. • We propose a concept of technical element for exploring technological development. • An approach is raised to explore the important techniques in various time intervals. • We filter out the important patents to build the main paths of a domain. • A method is applied to the main paths to uncover the fusion and evolution process. • The framework is applied to surgical robot domain for revealing some rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]