The numbers of medical device approvals were up in most regions outside the US and the biggest surge, by percentage, was in approvals from emerging markets and the so-called BRIC countries. It remains to be seen if the trend will continue in 2018, but many companies are already counting on important non-US approvals coming in the next year.

After knocking Johnson & Johnson off its long-held top position last year, Medtronic has successfully retained the lead in the global medtech market for the second year running in Medtech Insight's MTI 100 rankings. Meanwhile, movement and reshuffling in the ranks continued among other top-tier industry players as they reaped the rewards from previous M&A deals and long-term growth strategies. In this article, we take a closer look at the top-10 overall players, and see who's leapt in front of rivals and who's left eating dust in Medtech Insight's 2017 edition of its annual ranking.

M&A activity tumbled in November after October's big boom. Nine deals were recorded on Medtech Insight's M&A Deal Tracker, repeating the low deal count seen in the same period last year. However, the month saw a handful of notable deals, including Philips' eighth acquisition of the year.