Quantifying 30 Years of Technological Innovation in Total Hip Arthroplasty

Abstract

AbstractTechnological innovation in total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a critical component of health care delivery for improving patient outcomes. Analyzing the content of patents and trends in their activity over time can leverage insight into innovations in THA; however, these investigations remain underutilized. We aimed to quantify patent activity and relative growth pertaining to technologies in THA over a 30-year period. A query for patents relating to “hip replacement” or “hip arthroplasty” between 1989 and 2019 using an open-source patent database yielded 24,071 unique patents for analysis. These were grouped into 12 independent technology clusters using Cooperative Patent Classification codes. Annual patent activity for each cluster was normalized with a validated formula to control for exponential growth. The 5-, 10-, and 30-year compound annual growth rates (CAGR) for each cluster were quantified and compared between clusters. Annual cumulative patent activity increased from 151 patents in 1989 to 1,182 patents in 2019, representing a 682.8% increase. The largest technology clusters concerned “drugs” (n = 6,429 patents), “instruments” (n = 4,014 patents), “materials” (n = 2,037 patents), and “components” (n = 1,946 patents). One-half of the identified clusters concerned developments in technology-assisted THA (patient-specific instrumentation, navigation, robotics, design/manufacturing, instruments, and computer modeling). The most rapidly growing technology within the past 5, 10, and 30 years was robotics (CAGR = 15.82%, 20.11%, and 9.50%, respectively). Within the past 5- and 10-year trial prostheses (CAGR = 10.76%) and design/manufacturing processes (CAGR = 10.27%), computer modeling (CAGR = 12.91%) and navigation (CAGR = 11.25%) were among the most rapidly growing clusters, respectively. The majority of patents pertaining to THA over the past 30 years have concerned developments in drugs, instruments, materials, and components. Within the past 10-years, substantial growth has been observed in patent domains related to technology-assisted THA. Monitoring of emerging technologies through patent metrics may provide valuable information for regulatory bodies and assess progress in the field of THA. This is a cross-sectional study with level of evidence IV.