Ortho Active × Thetis Medical

How this product actually sells

Not a pitch. Four ways volume moves — we want your read on Canada.

The mix today

Demand is proven. Most of it is still digital.

Global volume has grown every year. About 90% of that is patients finding the splint online. The other 10% is shops, hospitals, and a few institutions — and that is the harder part everywhere, Canada included.

5,000+

Units in the field
~90%

Digital / D2C today
~200

Canada units / year
2,600

Global units in 2026

Splints sold per year

History only — no partner forecast. Growth so far is almost all direct to patient.

Discussion map

Four levers

These are the things that already move volume. The rest of the deck walks each one. We are not picking a winner for you.

Lever 1
Digital marketing D2C
Shopify
thetismedical.com, Shopify, Amazon, SEO and content. This built the business.
Lever 2
Fliers and referral codes
Clinics & clinicians
Hospital flyers and clinician codes. Cheap, local, and already used in the UK.
Lever 3
Where we make it
UK · Romania · Asia
Three production routes. Real saving is maybe £20k a year — worth knowing, not a growth lever.
Lever 4
Reimbursement / national schemes
Not live yet
Germany listing, NHS supply chain, US reimbursement. Big unlock if price comes down — and a big effort.

Lever 1

Digital D2C — Shopify and search

Patients look for a night solution when the boot keeps them awake. When they find it, they buy it. That is most of the volume to date.

1.6m

Annual search impressions
24k

Clicks to the site
~2×

Traffic growth per year
4.1 / 5

Global rating · 303 reviews

Shopify
thetismedical.com checkout — the main D2C engine
Amazon
Marketplace where patients already shop for recovery kit
Content & SEO
Guides, courses, and achilles-rupture.com feed the same demand

Lever 2

Fliers and referral codes

A flyer in a fracture clinic, plus a visit, has produced local sales spikes in the UK. Clinician referral codes already exist — 20% on the sale if they want to use them.

Patient flyers
Waiting-area and A&E leave-behinds. Patients take a code home and order when the boot fails them at night.
Clinician codes
Referral / affiliate links for physios and surgeons exist. We have not used them.
Hospital visits
In-person clinic visits paired with flyers. The spike is local and measurable after the visit.

This does work

We have never used a referral code. Fliers increase sales.

Leave a flyer in the clinic and volume at that site goes up. The code is optional. The paper is what moves it.

Lever 3

Where we make it

UK today. Romania and Asia are open as lower-cost routes. Moving production does not transform the P&L.

Current
United Kingdom
Shells and soft goods made here now. Simple, close, and already in the quality system.
Available
Romania
EU labour and sewing at a lower unit cost, without leaving the European supply footprint.
Available
Asia
Lowest unit cost. Longer lead times, more freight, more coordination — the usual trade.

What it actually gives

Maybe £20k a year.

Real money, not a rounding error — and not enough to change the growth story. Reimbursement needs a different price; this is not how you get there.

Lever 4

We have not pulled this lever yet

Reimbursement and national schemes are how volume scales without patients finding us online. None of this is live as a Thetis channel today. The doors that look open:

Germany
Hilfsmittel listing
Night positioning orthoses are already reimbursed — mostly the wrong dorsiflexion splints. A correct ATR code would let Sanitätshäuser supply it.
United Kingdom
NHS supply chain
Coming. Trust-level sales exist; a national catalogue / supply-chain listing is the step that would make hospital buy routine.
United States
Insurance / reimbursement
Not started. Coding, payer coverage, and clinic billing would have to be built from scratch.

The catch

Getting price down is the big unlock — and a big effort.

Payers and supply chains do not buy at C$140. Listing, tenders, and a lower landed cost are the work. Worth it if someone wants to own that channel; not a side project.

What already works

Some clinics sell it well

Not a national pattern. Where a surgeon advocates for the splint, the clinic stocks it and patients get it. A few of those advocates:

“A game-changer in my practice. The splint's design prioritizes both comfort and functionality, enabling controlled, progressive recovery.”

Dr Robbie Ray

Foot and Ankle Surgeon
“When I tore my own Achilles tendon, the hardest part was wearing the hospital boot in bed. This splint is certain to improve the recovery experience for patients.”

Mr James Davis

Past President of the British Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society
“Makes complete sense to use something like this and I highly recommend this product. Comfort and usability all round.”

Mr Andy Roche

Foot and Ankle Surgeon
“Worth every penny as it stops the misery of trying to get good nights sleep in an uncomfortable boot!”

Mr Ian Gill

Foot and Ankle Surgeon