WARNING: This article might sting for those in Big Ortho chugging the “Enabling Technology” Kool-Aid.
Background
The term “Enabling Technology” slinked into the orthopedic world in the early 2000s as a slick marketing buzzword. Fast forward to 2025, and it’s everywhere. You could blindfold yourself at an ortho conference and still hit an “Enabling Technology” booth. Companies like Stryker, Enovis, and Zimmer Biomet have entire divisions, teams, and vocabularies dedicated to it.
The Question
But what the heck is it? A legit category for robotics, navigation, augmented reality (AR), and AI? Or, as I suspect, a fluffy euphemism cooked up by marketing gurus to make expensive tech sound like a must-have?
We’re fed a steady diet of hype about how “Enabling Technology” is “driving growth.” The market, including systems like Stryker’s Mako and Enovis’ Arvis, hit $1.4 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow 7.5% in 2025 (OrthoFeed). It’s supposedly transforming joint replacement and spine surgery with pinpoint precision and better outcomes.
Sounds like a game-changer, right? But let’s cut through the fog: Is this a real category, or just a shiny label for anything that’s not an implant or...
