Demographic factors

Demographic developments are one of the main factors in the growth of the health market in the decades ahead. Thanks to higher living standards and improved medical care the proportion of elderly people in the industrialized states is steadily growing. Increased life expectancy is accompanied by a high degree of mobility and active participation in social and sporting activities. The incidence of degenerative joint diseases that set in even before old age, as well as age- and leisure-related fractures, is constantly growing.

Expenditure on health is rising steadily worldwide, with the U.S. in the lead. A strong impetus to growth can also be expected to result from the improvement in medical care in so-called threshold countries, among them China with its vast population.


Technological trends

In addition to demographic reasons, new technological developments are a determining factor in the health market. In traumatology, a paradigm shift is currently under way from plate-assisted fracture healing to osteosynthesis by nailing, and from metal implants to biological implants. The trend is clearly towards biomaterials as the material of choice for the future. In future, bone replacements made from the patient's own body tissue and bioresorbable implants will be increasingly important in trauma surgery.


Greater efficiency in clinics and hospitals

New scientific findings are leading to potentially better and better treatment possibilities. However, the high level of medical care and constantly rising patient numbers are leading to an explosion in costs. This gives rise to the need to rethink health policies. Technical advances in medical technology must be more closely geared to economic constraints. Not everything feasible is economically justifiable. Surgical clinics expect manufacturers to provide a balanced cost-benefit ratio, backed by a high standard of service. System solutions for standard indications are designed to encourage speedy, low-cost operating procedures. Innovative implants are designed to support modern, minimally invasive surgery that is easy on the patient. This helps to speed up the healing process and avoids the need for high follow-up costs.