OrthoSensor Inc. is one of a vanishing breed of venture-backed medtech companies developing disruptive technologies. It has made steady progress toward the goals it had six years ago when it was founded, and it serves as a model of what can be achieved through the convergence of information technologies and medical devices in orthopedics. “We are betting on disruption,” says OrthoSensor CEO Jay Pierce. “We are bringing in electrical engineering and Internet technologies to transform medicine.” Several new orthopedic start-ups following its lead hope to be equally successful at fundraising, signing up partners, and advancing clinical medicine.
OrthoSensor set out to improve the success rates of established orthopedic implant surgeries, not by improving the hardware implants, but with information collected from existing types of implants about their...