Analyst: Uptake for robotic knee procedures will depend more on marketing than evidence (MassDevice)
The adoption of robot-assisted total knee replacements will depend more on marketing that data or outcomes, Leerink Partners analysts wrote yesterday, as the leading contenders prepare to unveil their robotic total knee systems at an upcoming orthopedics conference.
Based on a conference call with a pair of orthopedic surgeons who each perform roughly 200 knee cases annually, the Leerink analysts said their experts believe the gain from robotic technologies will be incremental at best.
“While robotics could improve technique for ‘lower quality’ surgeons, both specialists expressed doubt as to whether the evidence would ever bear out in favor of robotics. Rather, in their minds, it is the ability to attract new patients to the hospital that will make or break robotic adoption,” analysts Richard Newitter and Ravi Misra wrote in a March 2 note to investors. “In their view the appeal of robotics to patients is more around the concept than brand (i.e., robotics vs. MAKOplasty or BlueBelt or “Omniplasty”) and thus [the] specialists believe that ultimately they will be able to pull in pati...
