With joint replacement the only game in town for treating worn out arthritic knees, the search is on for technologies that can be used earlier in the treatment continuum and stave off the progression of degenerative joint disease. Last year, close to 800,000 people in the US had their knees replaced with a total joint and this number is expected to increase to over 900,000 by 2019. (See Exhibit 1.) Increasingly, total knees are implanted in younger patients who no longer want to live with stiff and painful joints but have no other alternative.
Treating knee pain is big business. Last year in the US, $4.5 billion was spent on knee replacement implants and...