At AAOS, Large Joint Makers Are Making It Personal

Article preview from IN VIVO - February, 2012

At AAOS’ 2012 meeting, one attention-grabbing strategy centered on the personalization of large joint implants to match the specific anatomies of patients. Several large joint manufacturers have introduced tools for achieving “custom fits” for new joints, knees in particular. Advances in robotics and customized manufacturing are enabling smaller companies to take personalization to the next step. MAKO featured its MAKOplasty Total Hip Arthroplasty (MAKOplasty THA), an advancement of its partial knee MAKOplasty procedure. In another approach toward customizing knee surgeries, ConforMIS manufactures a line of knee implants that are custom made for each individual patient.

At AAOS, Large Joint Makers Are Making It Personal

Article preview from IN VIVO - February, 2012

Over the past few quarters, large joint manufacturers have been reporting stable but relatively flat sales growth, forcing makers of hip and knee implants to try to grab market share from rivals. Traditionally, this isn’t an easy task as large joint surgeons are notoriously loyal to their favorite implants, so medical device manufacturers continue to pursue new techniques and approaches to help them win over surgeons and purchasing hospitals.

At last month’s American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2012 Annual Meeting,  one attention-grabbing strategy centered on the personalization of large joint implants to match the specific anatomies of patients. “Personalization and procedure efficiency were the key themes at AAOS in our view,” writes Michael Matson, senior medical device analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc., “with an emphasis on patient specific instruments which are being expanded to partial knees and total ankles as well.”

All customization efforts are trying to improve upon the one shortcoming of large joints. While hip and knee implants are durable and don’t fall apart (although concerns over the materials from which those implants are made continue to be under tight review as indicated by the AAOS meeting’s frequent and ongoing discussions about metal-on-metal hips), there are questions about whether more patients than previously realized are suffering from misaligned implants.

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