Orthopaedic device maker Stryker has announced it will acquire Ascent Healthcare Solutions, reprocessor of medical devices, for $525m in cash.

Pressure on hospitals to cut costs is driving demand for reprocessed medical devices, which offer a 50% saving over new devices, an analyst told Reuters.

Stryker estimates that the US market for disposable medical devices is around $32bn, of which $3.6bn could be safely reprocessed.

The target market for reprocessed devices is about $1.8bn.