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The BONEZONE team was in New Orleans last week for the AAOS Annual Conference to connect with industry executives and orthopedic thought leaders.
We networked in the expansive exhibit hall and attended several idea-generating events: the Canaccord Genuity Musculoskeletal Conference, the AAOS and FDA Town Hall that explored the evolution of digital surgery, and the HealthpointCapital Investment Forum, which brought together executives from Smith+Nephew, Stryker, Zimmer Biomet and DePuy Synthes for a high-level talk about the competitive forces that are driving orthopedics forward.
Here are the big themes and important trends that we discovered during our four days in the Big Easy.
The Future Is Digital
Beau Standish, Ph.D., Chief Enabling Technologies Officer at Orthofix, believes that enabling technologies are the operating systems for implants, and said the real power of digital surgery lies in the data and navigation platforms that help guide surgeon decision-making.
“If you look at what’s coming down the pipeline, there’s a clear mandate from leadership teams to push the envelope when it comes to software innovation, especially in artificial intelligence,” he said during a technology-focused panel discussion at Canaccord. “Our proprietary algorithms are becoming the real secret sauce, and the way R&D teams are organized now reflects a much stronger emphasis on software development. As we look to the future, software will continue to play a central role in driving the next generation of orthopedic technologies.”
Louie Vogt, Group President of the Reconstructive Business Group at Enovis, described this dynamic as understanding the “brain” and “muscle” behind technology platforms.
The brain refers to the way that imaging and navigation assess a patient’s physiology and pathology preoperatively to determine optimal implant alignment, fixation method and sizing, and translates those factors into the surgical plans surgeons execute with the business end of robotic platforms — the technology’s muscle.
“Companies really need to own the brain portion of the equation because the tools used to execute the plan will continue to evolve over time,” Vogt said. “Large robotic systems will become smaller, lighter, less expensive and more portable.”
The digital and mechanical aspects of orthopedic surgery will become even more connected to improved patient outcomes as clinical data is used to close the feedback loop on surgery.
“We’ll be able to look at specific patient populations — demographics, psychographics, geography and other variables — compare their preoperative condition, analyze what was done intraoperatively and evaluate their postoperative results,” Vogt said. “Large language models and computational analytics will allow us to identify what worked best and feed those insights back into the preoperative planning process to improve future care.”
No company has fully closed that feedback loop, at least not yet, but that’s what the future of orthopedics looks like.
“Digital orthopedics is clearly the direction the field is heading. What the exact execution tools will look like, and what the market landscape will be five years from now, is much harder to predict,” Vogt said. “That uncertainty is one reason companies are diversifying their approaches and introducing a wider range of execution tools and assistance technologies.”
Beyond the Robot
Dr. Standish said the goalposts have shifted for orthopedic companies that are developing enabling technologies.
“The focus is less on incremental clinical gains and more on the operational and economic profiles of these platforms — factors that will ultimately determine whether we can reach a true standard of care where every patient has access to advanced technology,” he explained. “Clinically, we’re no longer talking about doing something a millimeter or a degree better. Instead, the conversation is about the size of the device, its economic profile and how it fits within the broader healthcare ecosystem.”
Orthopedic companies continue to diversify their technology offerings and introduce solutions that Vogt called “capital light” during the Canaccord panel discussion.
“There’s a degree of experimentation underway as the industry works to determine what will be most effective clinically and what financial model will create a sustainable value proposition for all stakeholders,” he said. “That’s an exciting dynamic, because there clearly isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.”
Stryker showcased the recently launched Mako RPS in the AAOS exhibit hall. The new handheld robotic platform is designed with ease of use in mind and to meet surgeons where they are in terms of technology adoption. That’s another important aspect of enabling tech’s future development.
“Some surgeons may not be ready to adopt a full robotic system yet, but they still want the benefits of enabling technology and robotics to enhance their power tool and navigation experience,” said Dylan Crotty, Group President of Orthopaedics at Stryker, during the Investment Forum. “One principle should guide innovation: Don’t make anyone’s job harder. In the end, ease of use wins every time.”
Crotty believes achieving market success with enabling technology is as much about the entire ecosystem that supports it as it is about the individual platforms themselves.
“That includes the installation team, the service organization and the medical education teams that ensure surgeons and staff can use the system seamlessly,” he said. “All those components need to work together for the technology to be successful.”
FDA Onboard
Michelle Tarver, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, highlighted the rapid growth and future trajectory of robotic surgery during the AAOS and FDA Town Hall that explored the evolution of artificial intelligence, digital surgery and device innovation.
She noted that robotic devices were used during 2.6 million orthopedic procedures performed between 2024 and 2025, and 22% of surgeries involved robotic assistance last year. The technology continues to gain traction thanks to year-over-year procedure growth of 15% and the currently untapped market of potential cases.
Robotics and digital medicine, particularly AI, will continue to shape the future of orthopedic care, according to Dr. Tarver, who said regulators are preparing for the shift.
“That’s the next frontier,” she said, “and we are positioning ourselves to be ready to look at the devices that incorporate those features.”
Efficiency Matters Most
The continued migration of cases to ASCs creates a significant opportunity across the industry for companies that solve the complicated calculus of delivering cost-effective solutions to the point of care. Companies are differentiating themselves by figuring out how to bring high-quality solutions to the ASC environment that also meet the economic realities of the setting.
“Health systems are under enormous strain to bend the proverbial cost curve, which means improving cost efficiency has become imperative,” said Deepak Nath, CEO of Smith+Nephew, during the Investor Forum. “In some ways, that pressure has always existed, but we’re entering a period where those dynamics are becoming even more pronounced.”
Innovations aimed at the outpatient environment must focus on helping health systems manage those cost pressures, especially for surgeon owners of ASCs.
“Developing technologies that allow providers to deliver high-quality care while operating more efficiently will be an important measure of success going forward,” Nath said. “Related to that is the broader issue of efficiency throughout orthopedics.”
Nath was referring to the industry’s logistics.
“As companies struggle to manage cost complexities on their balance sheets, hospitals are facing similar pressures on their side,” he said. “That creates an opportunity for innovation, whether through AI or other approaches, to simplify logistics, streamline supply chains and improve overall efficiency. My suggestion, both internally and to others across the ecosystem, is to keep those priorities in mind as we pursue new innovations and bring technologies to market.”
Expanding Indications
Several orthopedic companies are growing their product portfolios to include expanded indications, a trend that was evident among some of the sports medicine-focused companies that presented at Canaccord.
Atreon Orthopedics developed the BioCharge Autobiologic Matrix, a bioresorbable synthetic implant, to address biological failure in rotator cuff repair. The company believes that if its technology works at the enthesis, where tendons meet bone at one of the body’s most difficult healing environments, it could be expanded into additional applications.
“We’ve demonstrated that our scaffolds can promote healing at the tendon-to-bone interface, but they can also support healing in complex wounds that are traditionally very difficult to treat,” said Ronald Bracken, Atreon CEO. “The platform is being applied in many different tendon repair procedures, and we’ll continue to expand into additional clinical applications from there.”
Atreon has also developed an interpositional scaffold that can be used to support repairs in procedures involving the Achilles tendon, elbow, and hip.
“The idea is that surgeons now have a product specifically designed to help address the enthesis in a variety of sites,” Bracken said.
Abanza secured its first FDA 510(k) clearance for the WasherCap soft tissue fixation technology three years ago and has received three more clearances within the past 18 months, including the latest — QuadLock, a knotless, tension-adjustable fixation system for ACL reconstruction — four weeks before AAOS.
The clearances have given the company strong regulatory expertise, which the team plans to leverage into five more clearances over the next 24 months.
“Achieving that milestone would transform the company, positioning it as a major player in soft tissue fixation with applications across more than 50 surgical procedures,” said Hugo Dominguez, Partner and Chief Commercial Officer at Abanza. “Our technology offers a strong alternative to traditional screws and buttons, particularly for challenging patient populations such as pediatric and elderly patients, who together represent 50% of the sports medicine market.
Laser Focused
One of the slickest and most intriguing platforms we saw at the conference comes from Australia-based ArthroLase. The company’s HAiLO system is a joint resurfacing robot that employs laser shaping technology to precisely and rapidly remove thin layers of bone in the knee to perfectly align the company’s cementless resurfacing implant with the aim of significantly improving its biomechanical function, stability and longevity.
ArthroLase generated a quiet buzz at the conference, so keep an eye out for this company gaining significant momentum moving forward.
There’s still plenty more to unpack from our time well spent at AAOS, so check back for more coverage of what we saw, heard and learned in New Orleans.
