CHICAGO — Day two of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS; Rosemont, Illinois) 2013 annual meeting kicked off inside McCormick Place with the official opening of the technology exhibits on the main floor. Occupying space among the many exhibitors is the DePuy Synthes Joint Reconstruction Division of DePuy Orthopedics (Warsaw, Indiana). Among the technology products from DePuy is its latest innovation in total knee replacement, the Attune knee system.

Charles Dickens at his desk in 1858. Dickens' famous opening line from "A Tale of Two Cities" could easily be applied to the current state of the medical device industry, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Here at Medical Device Daily we've become accustomed to the doom-and-gloom stories about our industry. The medical device tax provision in the Affordable Care Act and other emerging realities of healthcare reform along with worldwide economic sluggishness, regulatory and reimbursement challenges, consolidation among hospitals and an increase in hospital-employed physicians has created the perfect storm for the medical device industry....