Zimmer Biomet to Preview Intelligent Orthopedic Surgery Category at AAHKS 2026

A symposium and booth focused on intelligent systems

According to Zimmer Biomet, the company will host a featured symposium and booth discussions at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), held November 5 to 8 in the Dallas area. The symposium takes place on November 6, and the company describes the new approach as a "new category in orthopedic surgery" guided by a simple principle: transfer burden, not control.

The symposium is titled "The Future Is Now: From Kinematic Alignment to Intelligent Surgery." It runs Friday, Nov. 6, from 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. in Fort Worth 1&2 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Speakers listed are Marcus Ford, M.D., Michael Hellman, M.D., Sébastien Parratte, M.D. and Joshua Petterwood, M.D. They are set to discuss technologies reshaping how personalized surgery is planned, performed and optimized.

Throughout the meeting, visitors to booth #608 can examine the company's vision for how intelligent surgical systems may help expand capabilities without adding complexity, cognitive load or physical burdens.

The case for measuring what happens in the operating room

Jonathan Vigdorchik, M.D., Chief Science, Technology and Medical Affairs Officer at Zimmer Biomet, argued that planning, navigation and robotics have changed surgery, but that precision is not the end goal. In his words, "Today, we know which patients do well, but we don't always know exactly how their surgery was performed or which surgical decisions contributed to their outcomes."

He said the field needs to move beyond a surgeon's subjective assessment of a successful operation toward objectively measuring what happened in the operating room and connecting those decisions to patient recovery. Vigdorchik said intelligent systems could help surgeons make better-informed decisions, translate their intent into action and reduce the procedural burden. The stated aim is a continuous feedback loop between surgical decisions and patient recovery, so that what is learned from each patient helps deliver better care for the next.

The release gives no technical detail on the new category. It also states that comments on the future direction of orthopedic robotics are forward-looking and do not describe any product currently available for sale.

Products and education sessions on the program

Booth #608 will highlight existing products across four groups:

• Robotics and navigation: ROSA Knee with OptimiZe, ROSA Hip CT, TMINI Miniature Robotic System and OrthoGrid HipAI.
• Knee and hip systems: including the Persona Knee System, Persona Revision Knee System, Oxford Cementless Partial Knee, NexGen Rotating Hinge Knee, Z1 Hip System, G7 Acetabular System and Arcos Femoral Revision System.
• Connected care and ASC solutions: ZB Edge Analytics, the mymobility Care Management Platform, Persona IQ The Smart Knee and ZBX ASC Solutions.
• Infection and perioperative solutions: Synovasure, Bactisure, Avitus Bone Harvester, StageOne Spacer Molds and the iovera non-opioid pain relief treatment.

The company also lists medical education events, including The Immersive Experience on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. CT, BioSkills Labs for Persona Revision Knee and Anterior Hip Revision on Friday, Nov. 6, and a ROSA Knee with OptimiZe Certification Program the same day. Other sessions cover smart implants and a policy landscape, and early-career practice.

What it means

The announcement is a preview rather than a product launch. For surgeons attending AAHKS, it signals Zimmer Biomet's direction: connecting surgical decisions with recovery data while keeping control with the surgeon. Details on the new category, its availability and regulatory status are not provided in the release, which directs readers to surgeonguided.com for the company's teaser and conversation.