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Industry representatives, leading physicians and company executives are preparing to gather in San Francisco for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting (AAOS). We’re excited to join them for four days of networking, education and collaboration. Although we won’t have time to visit the Painted Ladies, Uber down the crookedest street in the world or escape to Alcatraz, we will walk the exhibit hall in search of surgical solutions that recently entered the $59 billion orthopedic market. Here are five new technologies we’re planning to check out.
Joint Replacement
The total ankle replacement segment is poised for significant growth, driven by improvements in 3D printing, implant designs and motion-preserving technology. restor3d (booth #6069) is introducing a line extension to the Kinos Axiom Total Ankle System, a 3D-printed implant that restores natural motion in all three anatomic planes of the ankle. The new X-Stem, Tall Tibial component allows surgeons to enhance tibial fixation with the height of the stem through an anterior approach and without impacting hindfoot anatomy or the tibial anterior cortex.
Last September, restor3d completed its acquisition of Conformis as the company looks to expand its portfolio of personalized orthopedic solutions.
Enabling Technology
Exactech (booth #951) recently received FDA 510(k) clearance for the ExactechGPS Ankle, navigation specifically designed for ankle replacement surgery. The system combines preoperative planning capabilities with intraoperative active tracker instrument guidance technology to give surgeons real-time feedback about the accuracy of bone resections in the ankle joint. Preclinical studies and bench testing have shown that GPS Ankle allows surgeons to match cuts on CT-based surgical plans within 2mm and two degrees.
GPS Ankle joins Exactech’s ecosystem of enabling and digital technologies that aim to improve patient outcomes with data-driven solutions. The system entered a pilot launch with limited availability in the U.S. this year.
Last November, Exactech announced that its Active Intelligence ecosystem of enabling technologies had been used in more than 100,000 joint replacement procedures worldwide.
Sports Medicine
Tetrous (booth #126), a first-time exhibitor at AAOS, will showcase EnFix RC, an implant designed to improve rotator cuff repair by preventing Enthesis Failure Syndrome. EnFix RC encourages cells and local growth factors to move toward the location at the enthesis, where the rotator cuff tendon is reattached to the humerus, to promote healing at the surgical site.
This method prevents the formation of scar tissue and enhances healing at the tendon-to-bone interface, where retears often occur. Allowing cells and local factors to migrate toward the interface between bone and tendon provides a promising solution to the persistent challenges associated with tendon reattachment, according to Tetrous.
The implant is made from proprietary demineralized cortical bone fibers that promote cell wicking, adhesion and proliferation. Its proprietary material retains its shape during liquid-intensive arthroscopic surgery.
Tetrous announced successful completion of the first four cases involving the implant last July. Last October, the company was issued a patent that covers the demineralized cortical bone fiber implants for bone healing and enhanced tendon-to-bone repair of the rotator cuff. EnFix RC is currently available in the United States and Australia.
Trauma
Paragon 28 (booth #6545) is a mover and shaker in the trauma market. The company is expected to surpass $185 million in sales for 2023, an increase of 16% over 2022, according to ORTHOWORLD Senior Analyst Mike Evers.
Evers said Paragon 28 is one of the fastest-growing companies in orthopedics that is tapping into the significant potential of the foot and ankle market, which the company estimates is worth over $4 billion annually across multiple product categories.
Paragon 28 has had a busy start to the year with a series of new product announcements.
In January, the company launched the FJ2000 Power Console and Burr System for minimally invasive and open foot and ankle procedures, the JAWS Great White Staple for providing increased strength and stability of osteotomy and fusion sites, the Grappler Knotless Anchor System and Bridgeline Tape for soft tissue repair in the foot and ankle and the Mister Tendon System to give surgeons a minimally invasive way to harvest a working length of tendon suitable for tendon transfer procedures.
Paragon 28 also released the Bun-Yo-Matic, which is designed to simulate weight-bearing during surgery and allow for compression before surgeons apply hardware. The device provides a reproducible way to restore the alignment of the foot, regardless of a surgeon’s technique.
In early February, Paragon 28 launched the Precision MIS Bunion System, which allows orthopedic surgeons to perform a tri-planar correction of the metatarsal head and adjustment of the distal metatarsal articular angle through small incisions. The system enables minimally invasive surgery and joint- and soft tissue-sparing surgical procedures. Paragon 28 said Precision MIS helps surgeons treat a wider range of bunion patients in a reproducible way.
Orthobiologics
Earlier this year, Xenco Medical (booth #1368) launched TrabeculeX Continuum, which connects orthobiologic treatments with digital health solutions. Xenco Medical’s TrabeculeX Bioactive Matrix is a regenerative biomaterial that leverages a complex surface topography and novel lattice architecture to promote 3D bone formation. Surgeons who implant strips of the material can enroll patients in the TrabeculeX Recovery App to remotely monitor their recoveries and prescribe individualized rehabilitation plans. Surgeons can also engage patients with video and text messaging.
TrabeculeX Continuum was developed to coincide with the growing movement within orthopedics to break down the silos of comprehensive care and connect with patients and monitor their recovery throughout an entire episode of care instead of focusing on a single treatment episode.
This is far from an exhaustive list of new and innovative technologies that will be showcased at AAOS. We’ll be spending parts of three days in the exhibit hall and will let you know which devices caught our eye. Reach out if you know of any solutions that have the potential to transform patient care or want to connect with a member of our editorial team.
Photo credit: AAOS 2023 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas
