Smart Orthopedic Implants

Article preview from Start-Up - July, 2013

 In orthopedics’ next generation, start-ups believe it will be advances in information, gathered by implanted sensors, that will yield the greatest improvements in outcomes, not hardware. We profile OrthoData and Ortho-tag.

Smart Orthopedic Implants

Article preview from Start-Up - July, 2013

In orthopedics’ next generation, start-ups believe it will be advances in information, enabled by implanted sensors, not hardware, that will yield the greatest improvements in outcomes.

OrthoSensor Inc. is one of a vanishing breed of venture-backed medtech companies developing disruptive technologies. It has made steady progress toward the goals it had six years ago when it was founded, and it serves as a model of what can be achieved through the convergence of information technologies and medical devices in orthopedics. “We are betting on disruption,” says OrthoSensor CEO Jay Pierce. “We are bringing in electrical engineering and Internet technologies to transform medicine.” Several new orthopedic start-ups following its lead hope to be equally successful at fundraising, signing up partners, and advancing clinical medicine.

OrthoSensor set out to improve the success rates of established orthopedic implant surgeries, not by improving the hardware implants, but with information collected from existing types of implants about their interactions with the body. The company has raised $53 million in venture funding to date (from Ziegler Meditech Equity Partners and undisclosed investors), most of it from a $40 million Series B round it completed in May 2012. The company has gained two 510(k) clearances for its Verasense knee system, which incorporates sensors to give surgeons the information they need to properly balance and align a prosthetic knee joint, and it has signed corporate partnerships with MAKO Surgical Corp., Stryker Corp., Biomet Inc., and Medtronic Inc.

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No publication reviews leading edge companies and technology better than Start-Up. Each issue of Start-Up profiles the most important new product companies, identifies the hottest technology areas, reviews funds flowing into private companies and investment trends, and reports on university tech transfer licensing. Industries covered: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical equipment & devices, and in vitro diagnostics.

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