Smith & Nephew (Imaging & Robotics)
UK-based global medical-device company spanning orthopedic implants, sports medicine, advanced wound care, and orthopedic robotics. Imaging-and-robotics footprint within the broader Smith & Nephew portfolio is narrower than the orthopedic-implant business but high-impact: CORI Surgical System robotic arthroplasty platform competes with Stryker Mako and Zimmer Biomet ROSA Knee in the rapidly-consolidating orthopedic-robotics category.
Company history
- 1856 — Thomas James Smith founds the company in Hull, England.
- 2017 — acquires Blue Belt Technologies (Navio robotic surgical system).
- 2020 — CORI Surgical System launches, evolving the Navio platform.
- 2020s — CORI installed base grows in joint-arthroplasty programs as a Mako alternative.
Product line (imaging / robotics)
Orthopedic robotics
- CORI Surgical System — handheld robotic-burr arthroplasty platform; supports total knee, partial knee, and hip arthroplasty.
Sports medicine + wound care
- Outside scope of the imaging vault.
Distinctive technology
- Handheld robotic-burr — CORI is architecturally distinct from large-arm robots (Mako, ROSA). The handheld instrument is constrained in real time by the navigation system; the surgeon executes burring within the planned envelope. Smaller footprint and lower capital intensity than competing arm-based platforms.
- Imageless workflow option — CORI supports CT-free intra-operative bone-mapping (in contrast to Mako's CT-based bone mapping), a workflow / capital-cost differentiator on selected procedure types.
Market position
Top-three orthopedic-robotics vendor alongside Stryker Mako (dominant) and Zimmer Biomet ROSA Knee. Smaller installed base than Mako globally; growing share in cost-sensitive and ASC (ambulatory surgery center) settings where smaller footprint matters.
Refurb posture
- Vendor-led service contracts dominate; secondary-market activity limited.
- Software / module licensing (Total Knee, Partial Knee, Hip) is per-program and per-case.