• Expanded Indications Lead to Expanded Growth - The Soft Tissue Replacement Market continues to incorporate cell-based therapies and bioscaffolds into repair, replacement and augmentation to enhance procedures with advanced products, such as ... (read more)
  
  
• Migration to Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) - The role of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) in sports medicine is expected to expand further in 2026. This shift is due to ... (read more)
  
  
• New CMS Guidelines Impact on Soft Tissue Replacement Procedures - In October 2025, CMS issued a final rule that announced   ... (read more)

Want to know what's on the horizon for Soft Tissue Replacement in 2026? Click the button below to download the complete "Soft Tissue Replacement: Trends to Watch in 2026" Market Outlook article by Emily Meng, SmartTRAK Analyst, Orthobiologics.

The 2026 cartilage replacement market is moving away from "one-size-fits-all" solutions toward a diversified, algorithm-driven approach tailored to specific biological profiles and patient needs. This evolving landscape features a spectrum of technologies, including refined osteochondral allografts, cell-expanded implants, and innovative synthetic scaffolds. As companies such as Arthrex and Vericel maintain dominance, new entrants are poised to expand treatment options across the continuum of care. 

Looking ahead at the trends in cartilage replacement for 2026, one fact is becoming increasingly clear: the quest for the "universal cartilage cure" has been officially abandoned. In its place, a more sophisticated reality has emerged, namely that a diversified approach is important for addressing the many different patient case presentations. 

This downloadable article explores how the 2026 marketplace is not defined by a single winner but by a spectrum of solutions designed to meet patients exactly where they are on the continuum of care, such as:

• Osteochondral Grafts: The Standard for Deep Defects in Young Patients - Advances in OCAs have been highlighted by new designs of graft-shaping instrumentation and graft-processing methods intended to extend cell viability. This will be an area of focus in 2026, as researchers and clinicians aim to ... (read more)  

• Cell Expanded Technologies: Is There Competition on the Horizon? - Vericel remains the undisputed leader (on a revenue basis) in the Cartilage Repair Market, with a 57.8% share in FY25. Buoyed by the successful expansion of its clinical provider network, which ended FY25 with over 900 surgeons trained on MACI Arthro, the company posted ... (read more)

Chance Leonard and R. Sean Churchill, MD, MBA, of Genesis Innovation Group and Capitan Orthopedics, discuss their SupraSpacer implant for treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears in an interview with SmartTRAK. 

In an interview with SmartTRAK, Chance Leonard and R. Sean Churchill, MD, MBA, of Genesis Innovation Group and Capitan Orthopedics, discuss the innovative SupraSpacer implant for the treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears and how it can provide a minimally invasive procedure that delivers stable, pain-free range of motion and helps preserve future surgical options.

To find out more about Capitan Orthopedics and the SupraSpacer implant, click on the following video (37:07 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is provided below. 

Interview Transcript:

Hey everybody. It's Andy Knapik here from SmartTRAK. I am senior analyst for soft tissue fixation and arthroscopic technologies. And today I'm really excited to be joined by a couple of gentlemen who are designing what I think is a pretty unique and very much needed product right now in the rotator cuff space. So I'm joined by Chance Leonard, who's the CEO of Genesis Innovation Group. And then Doctor Sean Churchill, who is a board member of the Genesis Innovation Group. Gentlemen, thanks for joining me today. It's nice to meet you.

Chance Leonard: Very nice to meet you as well.

Dr. Sean Churchill: Thanks for taking the time with us today.

So let's just start with an introduction. So maybe, Chance, start and talk to us about what is Genesis Innovation and your background a little bit so people get to know you a little.

CL: You bet. Well, thank you, Andy, for the opportunity to connect. My name is Chance Leonard, and as you mentioned, I currently serve as Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Innovation Group. We are a medical device development company, solely focused on med tech and in orthopedics, particularly. And we basically provide ...

Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Chance Leonard and R. Sean Churchill, MD, as they discuss the innovative SupraSpacer implant for the treatment of massive irreparable rotator cuff tears, conducted by Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.

The high costs and complexity involved in manual manufacturing hinder the commercial viability of regenerative cell therapies. Octane Biotherapeutics seeks to remove these barriers by integrating its automated "Cocoon" production system with the well-established Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject platforms. SmartTRAK interviews Dr. Robert Spiro, CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics, to explore the company's strategic acquisition of assets from Aesculap Biologics and TETEC AG, and their plan to make a significant entry into the US Cartilage Repair Market. 

Click on the following video to learn more (09:37 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

SmartTRAK: Hi, this is David Shepard with SmartTRAK, and I'm here with Dr. Robert Spiro, the CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics. Thank you for taking the time, really appreciate it.

Robert Spiro: Good to see you, Dave. Thank you.

Yes, good to see you as well. Tell me a little bit about Octane and the acquisition of Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject by Octane.

RS: Sure. It's a journey. It really started about 2010, '11, when I first started with Aesculap Biologics in this space. And having been in the cartilage regenerative space through several companies, really knowing that the scale-up of any type of manual culture, cell culture system was a big challenge from a commercial standpoint. We have always been looking for ways to automate this process. We started some on our own, but I encountered this technology with Octane, which was back in 2011—started that collaboration to transfer our manual autologous chondrocyte culture process to an automated system. They had already really started on this Cocoon technology, but we started to marry it to the Novocart program that long ago.

The relationship was there, all along, with the divestiture away from B. Braun Aesculap as they restructured all of their portfolio. It was really a natural progression for Octane to step in and acquire the company, not only Aesculap Biologics, but our sister company in Germany, TETEC AG, that developed the same technology. Octane Biotherapeutics is fully global, both German as well as US. And so, the Cocoon technology is an important step for us to commercialize both Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject for a number of reasons, and anyone in the cell culture space understands that scale up, scale out of those kind of manual process is expensive. It's one of the things that drives the cost of these products so high. So, it's been a great collaboration, and the fact that they stepped in through the acquisition just made a lot of sense for everybody.

RS: The hallmark of this is why it's really ideal for autologous cells. It's this ...

Want to learn more about how integrating the automated "Cocoon" cell production system with Novocart 3D and Novocart Inject platforms will disrupt the complexity and costs of the US Cartilage Repair Market? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Dr. Robert Spiro, CEO of Octane Biotherapeutics, conducted by David Shepard, SmartTRAK GM/Sr Analyst, Orthobio & Regen.

Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, discuss their BioBrace technology in an interview with SmartTRAK at OSET 2025 in Las Vegas. 

Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, sat down with SmartTRAK at the Orthopaedic Summit (OSET) 2025 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas (September 18–25, 2025) to discuss BioBrace and how its bioinductive technology sets it apart from the competition.

To find out more about Conmed and BioBrace, click on the following video (16:30 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below. 

Hey everybody, it's Andy Knapik with SmartTRAK, here at Ortho Summit in Las Vegas, and I'm happy to be here at the ConMed booth, and joined by a good friend of mine, Lisa Donnelly, who's VP of Marketing for US Ortho for ConMed, and then also Jeff Ott, who is a director of R&D. Why don't you just start by talking to us about how you started with the company? I'm just going to let you go with the intro part.

Jeff Ott: Yes, happy to do that. I joined a small company called Biorez about six or seven years ago as a small startup. We were focused on trying to find ways to help with tendon and ligament healing, and we developed a product called the BioBrace, which now is a part of ConMed.

So, when was that acquired? That was about a year…

Lisa Donnelly: August of 2022.

Okay. So a few years now. Wow. It's flown.

JO: Yes, time has flown by. So the BioBrace, which we developed, we designed a product that is a bioinductive scaffold with strength. What we did is we created a product that can both reinforce a tendon or ligament repair, and it also can ...

Want to learn more about the BioBrace technology? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our exclusive interview with Conmed’s Lisa Donnelly, VP of Marketing for US Orthopedics, and Jeff Ott, Director of R&D, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.

Stephania Bell, a licensed physical therapist, ESPN senior writer, and renowned sports injury analyst, brings together her clinical expertise and media experience, exploring how sports injuries in professional athletes intersect with those seen in the general population.

In a recent interview with SmartTRAK, Stephania Bell, a licensed physical therapist, ESPN senior writer and renowned sports injury analyst, brings together her clinical expertise and media experience, exploring how sports injuries in professional athletes intersect with those seen in the general population.

Click on the following video to watch the interview (43:14 min). For more details, interview topics by timecode and a link to download a complete transcript of the interview are provided below.

Interview Topics By Timecode:

02:00 Stephania’s background.

11:15 Work with Arthrex on the education side.

18:50 Where do med device companies fit in with prevention?

21:51 Patient insistance on being treated like the pros.

29:24 Public perception of sports injuries.

The connection between sports injuries in professionals and those in the broader population offers valuable insight into treatment and recovery trends. Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with Stephania Bell, ESPN senior writer and renowned sports injury analyst, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.

Incoming ICRS President Dr. Christian Lattermann discusses the future of cartilage repair in an interview with SmartTRAK at the 2025 ICRS Global Congress in Boston. 

In this interview, SmartTRAK speaks with Christian Lattermann, MD, the incoming president of the International Cartilage Regeneration and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS), about the future of joint repair. He shares insights on emerging technologies, highlighting advances in mechanical correction, AI and biologics. Dr. Lattermann explains how AI helps clinicians understand causes of degeneration that were previously overlooked. He emphasizes the excitement surrounding orthobiologics, especially extracellular vesicles, as a novel approach to guiding biological responses. 

To find out more, click on the following video (22:22 min). Interview topics, organized by timecode, and a link to download a complete transcript of the interview are provided below.

Interview Outline by Timecode:

00:22 The three pillars of revolution: AI, biology, and mechanics.

06:36 Orthobiologics and extracellular vesicles: From "voodoo" to validated science.

10:25 Rethinking inflammation: fixing the "leak."

13:53 The collaborative alliance: industry, clinicians and researchers. 

16:46: Finding the niche: comparing the roles of MACI, Agili-C, and other technologies.

21:29: Conclusion: the future of individualized patient care.

Curious about the future of cartilage repair? Click the button below to download and read the complete transcript of our interview with the incoming ICRS president, Dr. Christian Lattermann, conducted by  Andy Knapik, SmartTRAK Sr. Analyst, Soft Tissue & Arthroscopic Technologies.

In an interview with SmartTRAK, TendoNova's National Sales Director, Ben Browne, discusses the TendoNova device, a minimally invasive percutaneous tool for treating refractory tendinopathy.

In this SmartTRAK interview, National Director of Sales Ben Browne shares his insights on the TendoNova device, a minimally invasive tool for treating refractory tendinopathy through soft tissue fragmentation and debridement that can also be combined with orthobiologics like platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Click on the following video to learn more (08:37 min). A link to download a transcript of the complete interview is also provided below.