Tiger BufordYour Orthopedic Industry Expert (free today)

Historic Cycles of Orthopedic Innovation

20 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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In this panel discussion, Tiger Buford and fellow experts map the recent and upcoming cycles of innovation in orthopedics. They note that the field is moving out of its current "golden period" focused on extremities and into sports medicine, with imaging and navigation technologies poised as the next wave. The conversation highlights that minimally invasive surgery (MIS) tends to follow each major innovation by about five to ten years, creating a secondary inflection point that spreads MIS across procedures. The panel also describes innovation as following an S‑curve: an initial rise, an inflection, a taper, and then a need for a new breakthrough to restart growth. To illustrate these dynamics, a participant cites Wright Medical’s 2013 $5 million investment in a foot‑and‑ankle company, a notable shift away from the then‑dominant spine focus. The dialogue underscores how investment patterns and technology adoption reflect broader cyclical trends in orthopedic care.

Yeah, so I think we're in, I think we're exiting extremities right now as the golden period and we're entering sports medicine. And that's just, and then I think imaging navigation is next.
I think you've probably, you probably could put an MIS inflection point 5 or 10 years after each of those to have like a different wave. But you're, I, I, I follow you.
That's a great idea. That's a really good point. Is there's a secondary effect. MIS, everything gets MISed. I like that.
Yeah. And in innovation follows like a, like a normal curve but cumulative. So it just, it's an S, it's an inflection point and then it tapers down and then you have to come up with something new to, to like retrigger it.
I think it was in 2013 there at Wright Medical invested $5 million in a foot and ankle company. And I remember it caught my eye because at the time everything was Spine, spine, spine, and you know the rest of that story.