ARTICLE SUMMARY:
The articles that resonated the most with MedTech Strategist readers in 2023.
Here in no particular order, a baker’s dozen of our editorial staff’s top features from 2023, based on article views on MyStrategist.com.
Designing R&D to Drive Personalized Care
Medtech start-ups are not the only source of innovative technologies. Big company R&D teams are innovating too, as we learn from this roundtable discussion with Johnson & Johnson executives.
The Pros and Cons of a Globus-NuVasive Merger
The proposed merger between spine companies Globus and NuVasive seems timely, albeit high risk. Globus will have to display its prowess for operational excellence to navigate the deal’s enormous multiyear disruptions and overcome distrust even as competitors circle. NuVasive has yet to convince its shareholders that an offer they consider is in their best interest.
As Insulin Pump Options Grow, Usability Is Key
With clinical outcomes for automated insulin delivery systems reaching parity, market success now hinges on overall user experience, and both ease of use and access will have major roles to play as new pump systems hit the market.
Surgical Robotics Dream Team Tackles Biggest Global Problem in Ophthalmology
Some big names in robotically assisted surgery are behind ForSight Robotics, which is developing a unified platform for ophthalmic surgery, a specialty that has lagged in the adoption of robotics. They aim to solve the global lack of surgeons needed to treat the major causes of preventable blindness, while making sure that all patients have access to consistently good outcomes no matter where in the world they are.
Great Aspirations: New Mechanical Approaches to Treating Pulmonary Embolism
Pulmonary embolisms are managed by blood thinners, anticoagulants, and thrombolytic drugs, which cannot always resolve the problem and entail their own risks for bleeding complications. In a market with few widely used treatment options, start-ups Althea Medical, Akura Medical, and Magneto Thrombectomy are giving surgeons new minimally invasive tools to remove clots more effectively than ever.
Leading by Example: An Interview With Maria Sainz
Maria Sainz has occupied the C-suite at a number of medtech firms for more than two decades, one of the few women to have held the top spot in what was once a male-dominated industry. Those 20-plus years have taught her the value of decisiveness, a willingness to dive headfirst into a new corporate culture, and the importance of remaining visible.
The Arms Race in Pulsed Field Ablation
PFA is safer than the prevailing thermal methods of cardiac ablation. Will it become the one energy modality to rule them all? The question has instigated an IP land grab among companies serving cardiac electrophysiology.
Mainstay Medical Forges New Path in Neurostim
Mainstay Medical is targeting a large population of underserved chronic back pain sufferers with a unique implantable device that breaks new ground in the neurostimulation arena. Rather than simply masking the pain, as spinal cord stimulation devices do, Mainstay’s ReActiv8 therapy is designed to restore neuromuscular control to the low back.
Premia Spine’s Bid to Solve Lumbar Spine’s Motion/Stability Challenge
More than a decade of struggle, followed by FDA approval of its TOPS facet joint replacement system has led Premia to the brink of success, with a coveted superiority claim for what is the first device of its kind to reach the market. That’s an important milestone, but commercial challenges loom as it launches an inpatient only procedure into a consolidating market that has seen its share of disappointments.
Regaining Normalcy: ENT Start-Ups Offer Relief From Untreated Conditions
Diseases that fall under the ENT purview are often conditions that patients live with for years without a durable solution, managing their symptoms one day at a time. Rather than accept suffering as a standard, otolaryngology start-ups SinuSafe Medical, Otolith Labs, and Neurent Medical are offering minimally invasive therapeutic devices to treat debilitating, yet largely ignored, conditions of the ear and nose.
Cardiac Dimensions: Standing on the Brink of An Expanding Opportunity in Mitral Valves.
Cardiac Dimensions is the rare start-up from the first generation of percutaneous mitral valves that’s still standing, but in the 
20 plus years since its founding, the market has moved toward the company. Only one more hurdle stands between it and an expanded patient population that, upon FDA clearance, only its device can serve.
A Silver Anniversary: The Foundry at 25
Current Foundry leaders Hanson Gifford, Karun Naga, and Matt McLean reflect on a quarter-century of creating medtech companies and developing novel business models to enhance their success.
MedTech Innovator Start-Ups at the Heart of Cardiac Development
CardiaCare, Corveus Medical, and Cardiospire, three cardiovascular start-ups that have been part of a MedTech Innovator cohort, each offers a new approach to managing heart disease, from clinical monitoring to intervention, aimed at reducing invasiveness and increasing accessibility of treatment.