To the Extreme!
Orthopedic Design & Technology
Focusing on market trends and technological advances and developments in the orthopedic design & technology space.
I hope you had a great Valentine's Day and holiday weekend, orthopedic tech enthusiasts!
This month focuses on the small bone sector, which is ironically quite a large and fast-growing piece of the orthopedic device market. We call this sector "extremities," which comprises shoulder, hand, wrist, foot, and ankle repair and replacement technologies.
The first attempted ankle joint replacement took place in the early 1970's by Lord and Marotte, with a ball and socket implant based on total hip replacement designs. 25 replacements were reviewed after an average of 5.6 years, with only seven cases considered to be satisfactory. Not exactly a success—but as with many first steps in medicine, it was a failure on which success was built with later implant designs.
As one might expect, orthopedic devices for the tiny bones, tendons, and muscles in the extremities are quite small, meaning manufacturing precision is correspondingly challenging and crucial. Working in this market is no small feat!
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Nice summary, appreciated.