There isn't a good orthopedics solution for every patient.
Particularly in knees. There is a massive, gaping hole in treatments.
Every year, over two million meniscectomies and meniscal interventions take place globally. In more than 80% of irreparable cases, the prevailing standard of care remains partial or total removal of the meniscus. A loss of meniscus creates early OA problems.
The Problem Statement: The Joint Preservation "Donut Hole"
Patients aged 30 to 60 who suffer severe meniscal loss are too young and active for a Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), yet they are poor candidates for soft-tissue repairs or biologics. When the meniscus fails, hoop stress distribution collapses, sending contact stress through articular cartilage and accelerating osteoarthritis by up to 14 times.
During my time with Active Implants, we worked on solving this precise problem with the NUsurface® Meniscus Implant. While we proved that synthetic joint preservation belongs in orthopedics, navigating the US regulatory environment showed how challenging this category is.
London-based Orthonika is stepping into this gap with a synthetic total meniscus replacement engineered to mimic native tissue k...
