In Second Year, OrthoPitch Competition Continues to Impress

OrthoPitch was back at the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting! First launched at last year’s Annual Meeting, OrthoPitch is a live technology pitch competition where AAOS aims to fuel innovation and foster advancements with the potential to transform or improve existing standards of orthopaedic care.

More than 35 innovative companies applied to be part of this year’s competition. Those applications were narrowed down to the top four finalists: 16Bit, Auctus Surgical, SentryX, and VISIE.

One representative from each company presented about their product before answering questions from a panel of judges: Mayank Shandil, MBBS, MBA, global senior vice president of reconstruction and robotics at Smith+Nephew; Dave McGurl, former FDA acting branch chief for the Orthopedic Joint Devices Branch and current vice president of regulatory affairs at MCRA, an IQVIA business; and Daniel B.F. Saris, MD, PhD, professor of orthopaedics and regenerative medicine at Mayo Clinic.

16Bit Rho
First to the stage was Mark Cicero, MD, co-CEO of 16Bit. Dr. Cicero presented Rho, an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled opportunistic pre-screening computer-aided detection and notification software, which uses routinely captured radiographs to identify patients who may be at risk of low bone density.

“[Surgeons] optimize diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors prior to surgery, but the very substance that [they] are drilling into and relying upon for fixation is usually not a consideration,” Dr. Cicero said. “Have you ever thought that osteoporosis should never be diagnosed on the operating table? With Rho, you can predict whether or not your patient has low bone density based on a preoperative X-ray and, with that, prepare for their surgery.”

Osteoporosis is a relevant issue for orthopaedic surgeons because “periprosthetic fractures are becoming the leading cause of failure for total hip arthroplasty in the American Joint Replacement Registry, now accounting for one-third of all complications,” Dr. Cicero noted.

When questioned by the judges’ panel about why this product is for orthopaedic surgeons and not general practitioners, Dr. Cicero said the software allows the orthopaedic community to “own the bone.” They will not necessarily run a bone health clinic, but they can be the quarterback to start the process, he explained.

Auctus Surgical Dynamic Tethering System
Next to present was John Ashley, CEO of Auctus Surgical, who introduced the company’s Dynamic Tethering System. This dynamic vertebral body tethering system was designed to innovate the treatment of pediatric scoliosis through the use of its adjustable, non-fusion system.

“This year, over 40,000 children in the U.S. will have surgeries to straighten their spine,” Mr. Ashley said. “They will get cut open from the base of their neck down to their hips, with skin and muscle splayed, two solid titanium rods and dozens of screws implanted. Yes, their spine will be straightened, but the spine won’t move or grow.”

The Dynamic Tethering System is a flexible, minimally invasive implant that can be adjusted in the doctor’s office after implantation. The surgeon can hold a handheld controller to the patient’s back and adjust the length of the tether to get a personalized solution for every spine.

The company has been issued patents in the United States, Japan, China, and Europe, with additional applications pending.

SentryX BR-003
The third company to present was SentryX, a biopharmaceutical company developing a non-opioid platform for treatment of acute pain after surgery. This platform, called the BR-003, is a novel implantable anesthetic co-implanted with orthopaedic hardware, currently developed for use with a pedicle screw.

The short release of local anesthetic bupivacaine from a strong but elastic hydrogel ring into the wound leads to sustained pain relief in the critical first few days after surgery, explained Jorrit-Jan Verlaan, MD, PhD, cofounder and chief medical officer of SentryX.

“In the first-in-human study, what we saw was no real safety concerns, but what got us excited was that patients reported 49 percent less pain while using 42 percent fewer opioids compared with a cohort of patients that were on seven pain treatments,” Dr. Verlaan said.

This platform could provide surgeons with an easy, intuitive, non-opioid solution to improve patient comfort and satisfaction, potentially leading to better recovery and faster discharge, Dr. Verlaan explained.

When asked by the panel what makes this delivery mechanism unique or novel, Dr. Verlaan noted that BR-003 has a patented hydrogel technology where bupivacaine crystalizes and releases once it is in contact with wound fluid, dissolving bit by bit over 3 days. Current research on this product is focused on the spine, but Dr. Verlaan said he could easily see it applied other places and for other indications outside of orthopaedics.

VISIE CAAT
The final company to present its pitch to the judging panel was VISIE, inventors of groundbreaking 3D computer vision and spatial computing technology. Doug Fairbanks, president and CEO of VISIE, presented its novel concept focused on commercializing optical scanners for robotic and navigated orthopaedic, neuro, and spine surgery.

“When we think about registration, we might think about 40, 100, or 350 points in a manual registration with any system on the market,” Mr. Fairbanks said during the live event. “In the same time, VISIE will take 376,000 points, in a fraction of a second.”

VISIE’s Continuous Anatomic Auto Tracking—or CAAT—will help realize pinless robotic-assisted surgery. CAAT will allow for robotic knee surgery without tracking pins or arrays or manually registering anatomy, all without sacrificing tissue or accuracy.

Panel judge Dr. Saris told Mr. Fairbanks that he did not want to add another big piece of equipment to his OR. He asked how it might interfere with the robotics, nurses, imaging equipment, or lights that are already in the OR.

“Our device is smaller than a kid’s lunch box,” Mr. Fairbanks said, “and we can change the size and form based on indication.”

The winner
After audience voting and judges’ deliberation, the winner of AAOS’ second OrthoPitch was VISIE.

“This year’s winner has a very innovative image-based guidance system for navigation and surgical robotics that opens up a new efficient and patient-focused way of improving surgical flow,” Dr. Saris told AAOS Now. “The technology still allows for further development for broader application and more efficient implementation and therefore it presented a wonderful example of innovative, early-phase companies that would benefit from the award package that AAOS provides.”

Among the prizes for the winner were a complimentary booth at the AAOS 2026 Annual Meeting, one-on-one meetings with a minimum of nine leading medical technology investors, a complimentary regulatory or reimbursement assessment by an MRCA consultant, one year of SmartSTART from SmartTRAK, a complimentary webinar with AAOS, one 20-minute Innovation Theater time slot at the AAOS 2025 and 2026 Annual Meetings, and access to Axiom Health’s Intelligence Platform.

Leah Lawrence is a freelance writer for AAOS Now.

Apply for OrthoPitch at AAOS 2026

Interested in applying for the next OrthoPitch competition? Applications are now open for the 2026 event taking place at the AAOS 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Visit aaos.org/orthopitch to apply.