OrthoPitch, the Innovative Technology Pitch Competition, Will Feature Four Finalists and Their Cutting-Edge Products

AAOS, in collaboration with foundational sponsor MCRA, an IQVIA business, welcomes back OrthoPitch, the cutting-edge pitch competition that spotlights groundbreaking orthopaedic products and services. This popular event offers companies an opportunity to gain industry exposure, network, and compete for grand prizes.

OrthoPitch debuted at the AAOS 2024 Annual Meeting in San Francisco to a standing-room-only crowd, with the goals of fostering innovation within the orthopaedic field and encouraging the development of novel technologies that have the potential to transform patient care.

The road to OrthoPitch 2025
In early 2024, more than 35 applicants submitted applications that met the following criteria: unmet need and market opportunity, technical description of the product and procedure, evidence (preclinical and clinical if available), regulatory plan, reimbursement plan, and U.S. distribution and commercialization plan. Evaluations were then conducted in two rounds, with the AAOS Devices, Biologics, and Technology Committee reviewing all applications to narrow the field to the finalists.

On Tuesday, the four finalists will take the stage to pitch their products in front of a panel of judges and a live audience.

Learn more about the finalists

• 16 Bit Inc.’s Rho osteoporosis screening: Rho is a software medical device which can opportunistically screen routinely acquired radiographs in patients aged 50 years and older for their risk of low bone mineral density. Rho can use radiographs of the chest, spine, knee, pelvis, hand, or wrist. Rho received de novo market authorization from the FDA in April 2024.
• Auctus Surgical’s dynamic tethering system: This flexible tether is surgically implanted on the side of a child’s spine to straighten it. One end of the tether is attached to an implanted, magnetically adjusted spool. The device allows the spine to bend and twist. The surgeon uses a handheld magnetic controller to lengthen the implant as the child grows.
• SentryX’s BR-003 implantable anesthetic: BR-003 is a novel implantable anesthetic designed to address severe pain after spine fixation surgery. It consists of a ring-shaped biodegradable hydrogel that is easy to co-implant with regular pedicle screws. Unlike injections, BR-003 stays in place and delivers bupivacaine to the surgical site for more than 3 days.
• VISIE Inc.’s intraoperative 3D optical scanner: VISIE is creating groundbreaking intraoperative 3D scanners that combine the power of optical physics and deep technology to make the unseen seen in surgery. VISIE’s registration scanners create snap image registration—more than 300,000 3D data points in a fraction of a second—for robotic and navigated orthopaedic and spine surgery.

How it works
Each finalist will deliver a compelling presentation detailing their product’s innovation, clinical relevance, and market potential, as well as field thoughtful and hard-hitting questions from the judges. At the conclusion of the presentations, the judges and audience will cast their votes to determine the winner of OrthoPitch 2025.

The 2025 winner will receive a range of prizes, which may include:

• exposure to top seed and early-stage investors, physicians, strategists, and fellow industry members
• 1:1 coordinated meetings with medical technology investors
• complimentary webinar with AAOS
• complimentary booth at the AAOS 2026 Annual Meeting
• complimentary regulatory or reimbursement assessment by MCRA consultant
• one 20-minute Innovation Theater time slot at the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting
• one 20-minute Innovation Theater time slot at the AAOS 2026 Annual Meeting
• 1 year of SmartSTART from SmartTRAK

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the event beginning at 6 p.m. Beverages will be served. To learn more or express interest in the 2026 OrthoPitch event in New Orleans, please visit aaos.org/orthopitch.