I’ve worked with many different companies where I have royalties and intellectual property, specifically in knee and hip implant design; Smith and Nephew, Johnson & Johnson, to name a few. They have a very different design, production, and testing process. The process is slow-moving when working with these companies when trying to implement improvements in design or materials.

ROMTech was my first rehab project where I could see the TKR cycle completely through. As a surgeon, 50% of the patient outcome is what I do and the other 50% is what the patient and physical therapists do after surgery. I took an interest in the other half because I saw an opportunity to be more collaborative with the patient during that essential recovery phase.

ROMTech in the Orthopedic Industry and Beyond

When the PortableConnect® first launched, ROMTech was only able to do two orthopedic meetings before COVID put a halt on getting the word out. The fact that only five hundred surgeons had seen it and were ready to adopt it immediately is a good sign. We had only two meetings to get buy-in and those surgeons saw this as a game-changer. With those 500 surgeons, ROMTech supplies 8,500 units needed per month to keep up with their demand. The capacity for world-wide adoption is massive. There are 1 million total knee replacements per year in America alone. Even if just 50% of the market adopted this technology, this will use 500,000 units and that’s just for knee replacements. ACL repair has the potential for 100,000 units and meniscus around 400,000. Then you think of the CARDIOLOGY opportunities to which we are implementing research studies now. The capacity for using an at-home rehabilitative device is large. For many older patients or those who live alone, it’s harder to drive to an outpatient rehab facility multiple times a week. Early on in their recovery, it is hard to get around so a device that stays at home and does great rehab at a significantly lower cost could help these patients to have quality therapy that they may not have had access to.

Even in long-term care, suboptimal therapy exists right now. Having the PortableConnect to wheel around long-term care facilities will help all patients to stay active, which research shows can help patients to be less depressed, improve metabolism, and access quality rehab to help them move better. 

There are 75 million patients over the age of 65 who need knee replacements, have cardiology issues, etc. ROMTech can help underserved patients gain access to great therapy. Thinking more about this topic, there are other issues that the device solves. Patients don’t have to take days off work just to go to therapy. They can do it before work and when they return home, creating something that works with their schedule. I’m sure there are so many other areas of exploration that we haven’t even thought about.

Security in My Investment in ROMTech

For now, ROMTech is staying focused on the core of the orthopedic industry where I see the PortableConnect as the new standard of care, but I do predict they will expand in other areas quickly.

There’s always the risk with investing in a start-up. When I first bought in, I saw this gap in the market with pretty much no competitors and only saw the possibilities in a growing company. I feel much more secure now that I am three years in. ROMTech has expanded exponentially in manufacturing, billing, research, marketing, and have seen over 400 of my personal patients’ excellent outcomes, I’m confident my investment was a great decision. ROMTech is generating revenue now and getting close to becoming revenue positive. At this rate of growth, I see them achieving this by the end of the year. 

Another way I feel secure is that their number of patents have increased, which is great for credibility and investment security because they have something tangible that can be sold or have royalties. Investors have some ownership of these patents. 

I see ROMTech continuing to be explosive in the orthopedic knee market and they’re going to be tapping into the cardiology space this year. Looking at the US market of about 10 million over the next 5 years, I predict about a 25-30% penetration and 15% international penetration with significant double-digit gains.