Orthopaedic medical device technologies that offer greater clinical benefits expected to succeed

Mar 6 2006

Current users of medical device technologies for orthopaedic applications seek systems that offer maximum comfort while requiring minimum physical supervision. This is driving the market to continuously evolve technologies that use radically different approaches or make significant improvements to existing products.

Apart from greater product efficiency and ease of use, companies are also looking to provide economic advantages to end users of orthopaedic applications. However, to do so will be a challenge because of increased scrutiny of accounts and reimbursement details in the healthcare industry.

Currently, healthcare institutions do not reimburse many procedures and revision surgery further compounds this problem. Minimally invasive procedures are already replacing older techniques with their advantages of lesser pain and trauma, smaller scars, and lesser blood loss. Such procedures are not only more efficient, but also cost effective to both the healthcare industry as well as end users.

Scientists are developing several other specialised technologies and instruments that can improve the lifestyles of end users. It is vital to train and educate surgeons and orthopaedists in the use of these new technologies to overcome any reluctance on their part. This will require the companies developing the technologies to provide specialised training modules and resources.

"Patients also need to be educated and must be kept informed on the benefits and risks involved in the treatment," says Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Nivedithaa. G. "There is an increasing need for patients to understand that each individual's treatment differs based on the body's ability to accept the product."

Since these devices have to be inserted in the human body and function for long periods, technology developers cannot afford to be lax about the devices' safety. The gadgets need to be stable and fully functional, without triggering any reaction or side effects.

This need for robust devices is driving the market for orthopaedic biomaterials, especially for applications in such as degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis. Companies have made considerable progress in technologies where materials mimic the bone in almost all aspects. These products have the potential to cannibalise the allograft market as well as eliminate the need for an autograft.

Some European companies have materials exchange research agreements with American organisations, thereby facilitating the development of newer materials. For instance, Hedrocel, an American technology, imitates the bone in being spongy and porous. A coating of Biosilicon along with hedrocel technology improves bonding when implanted in the bone tissue. This combination of artificial and natural materials aids the reconstruction of the target and minimises pain and lowers the possibility of nerve compression.

"The overall biomaterials and gene therapy market is likely to grow steadily," notes Nivedithaa. "Orthobiologics will experience a boom in expansion in terms of research, development, production, and utility, with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies contributing significantly to this burgeoning sector."