Global Orthopaedic Treatment and Care: OTWorld shows State of the Art

"OTWorld will be one of the first leading international medical events to take place again in person. Rarely has this global industry forum been as important as it is today. In these uncertain times marked by war and crises, global discussion amongst professionals about the best ways to provide personal care and assistance for people with limited mobility and disabilities is more important than ever before," emphasises Martin Buhl-Wagner, Managing Director of Leipziger Messe. "We are pleased to be able to provide a platform for exchange amongst all the stakeholders." Evidence of global interest in OTWorld can be seen in the ticket sales to visitors from counties as varied as Ghana, Iraq, Lebanon, New Caledonia and Norway.

"Orthopaedic treatment and care are associated with a kind of close personal communication and contact that can only be reflected to a limited extent in video sessions," explains Alf Reuter, President of the German Association for Orthopaedic Technology (BIV-OT) and conceptual sponsor of OTWorld. "We want to use the intensive, worldwide connections in our field to come together with the relevant international professional societies and aid organisations at OTWorld and devote our attention to the topic of support for Ukraine," says Reuter. The Branch-Policy Forum is particularly significant in connecting politics and industry and is a format that experienced its baptism of fire at the purely digital OTWorld.connect 2020.

Branch-Policy Forum: Treatment and Care in Crisis Mode

In eight one-hour rounds of discussions, the Branch-Policy Forum at OTWorld 2022 will revolve around the topic of "responsibility." The German Association for Orthopaedic Technology (BIV-OT) and the "Wir versorgen Deutschland" (WvD, "We treat Germany") coalition of care workers have invited experts from politics, science, medicine, health insurance and social and industry associations as well as organisations such as the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) and the United Nations (UN) to discuss the present and future of the provision of quality treatment and care in Germany and Europe as well as worldwide. They will discuss questions such as: "Acting responsibly: Are there (no) limits to international orthopaedic treatment and care?" (Verantwortung zeigen: Kennt internationale Hilfsmittelversorgung (keine) Grenzen?) or "Assuming responsibility: What is the state of digital treatment and our eHealth mindset?" (Verantwortung übernehmen: Wie steht es um die digitale Versorgung und unser Mindset eHealth?) Journalist Henning Quanz will be moderating.

Exhibition: People in Focus & Innovation Talks

At this leading world trade show, more than 400 exhibitors from 28 countries will demonstrate new products as well as innovative treatment concepts and services for people with limited mobility and disabilities. Companies from countries including Australia, Canada, France, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan and the USA will be present. For the first time, products and services will be presented in nine treatment areas: mobility limitations, diabetes and vascular diseases, osteoarthritis and degenerative diseases, stroke, sport prophylaxis and injuries due to accidents, care of the back, movement disorders and paralysis, cancer and prevention. The focus throughout will be on the needs of the affected individuals.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the topics of "cerebral palsy", "lymphatic diseases" as well as "insoles" and will provide varied insights into modern and evidence-based treatment and care options. You can discover each of the themed special presentations on a walk through the trade show. The Digitalisation Forum further broadens the range of information available with presentations ranging from e-prescriptions to 3D printing as well as the Innovation Talks in an online format where exhibitors present their innovations via livestream.

Global Leaders of Interdisciplinary Care in the Congress Programme

Interdisciplinary care teams from the Netherlands and the USA will present two outstanding treatment approaches to diabetic foot and leg prostheses as "Global interdisciplinary leaders" at the OTWorld Congress. Highlights of the programme also include a lecture series on "Rehabilitation of Veterans and the Importance of Sport" (Rehabilitation von Veteranen und die Bedeutung des Sports) with Rory Cooper, PhD, a US war veteran from the University of Pittsburgh's Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL). Altogether, around 280 speakers from more than 30 countries are expected in Leipzig. The congress languages are German and English. Simultaneous interpretation will be available. Some of the programme will be streamed and made available after OTWorld in a media library.

Traditional congress highlights are provided by the four groundbreaking keynotes on the latest industry trends. This year's speakers are Prof Kenton Kaufman of the W. Hall Wendel Jr. Musculoskeletal Center at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA on "Generating stronger evidence in limb loss and preservation – the establishment of a US registry" (Evidenz für Amputationen und Gliedmaßenerhalt – die Einrichtung eines Registers in den USA), Prof Bertolt Meyer from the Department of Work-, Organizational-, and Economic Psychology at the University of Technology Chemnitz on "Digitalisation: Opportunities and Risks for People with Impairments" (Digitalisierung: Chancen und Risiken für Menschen mit Beeinträchtigungen), University Professor Oskar C. Aszmann, Director of the Center for Extremity Reconstruction and Rehabilitation and Deputy Director of the University Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, in a "tandem keynote" with physical therapist Dr Agnes Sturma on "TMR and Osseointegration" as well as Prof Dr-Ing. Sami Haddadin, Chair of Robotics and Systems Intelligence and Director of the Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MIRMI) at the Technical University of Munich on "Intelligent Control and Learning in Prosthetics" (Intelligentes Steuern und Lernen in der Prothetik).

In addition, the congress presidents will be making special contributions. Prof Dr Martin Engelhardt, Medical Director of Osnabrück Hospital and Chief Physician of the Clinic for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery and board member of the Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatic Sports Medicine (GOTS), will focus on the treatment of athletes in competitive and popular sport. Merkur Alimusaj (Dipl.-Ing.), Head of Technical Orthopedics at the clinic for orthopaedics and trauma surgery at Heidelberg University Hospital, will focus on digitalisation and new production methods as well as the treatment of children with congenital or acquired deformities and disabilities such as infantile cerebral palsy. Over 20 courses and factory talks will complete the programme including new workshops on materials science in technical orthopaedics.

Youth.Academy TO, Education Zone and MOOC: Young Professionals in Focus

In order to offer trainees and students from prosthetics and orthotics, orthopaedic footwear technology, healthcare supply retail, medicine and physical therapy industries an overview of the latest global innovations, research results and opportunities for advanced training in the ever-growing market for orthopaedic aids, OT World is again (for the 5th time) offering the Youth.Academy TO for orthopaedic technology. Around 500 young professionals from Germany and around the world are expected at the Leipzig Exhibition Centre for this special programme on May 12 and 13.

A new addition to the advanced training and continuing education at OTWorld is the Education Zone (Treffpunkt Bildung). Master schools, universities and other educational institutions from around the world will be presenting information about their programmes for advanced training and continuing education in technical orthopaedics.

For the first time ever, an international programme for young professionals will continue after OTWorld with the new and free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) where trainees can learn from the best. In more than ten 20-minute educational videos in English, experts from Germany, El Salvador, Thailand and the USA will present successful examples of interdisciplinary work on treating amputees as seen from the perspectives of the relevant disciplines. The international contributions will be posted in the media library after the event and will be available worldwide free of charge.

About OTWorld

OTWorld is the sector’s largest get-together and the world's most important meeting place for all manufacturers, distributors and service providers in the field of modern orthopaedic treatment and care. The International Trade Show and World Congress OTWorld is aimed at prosthetists and orthotists, orthopaedic footwear professionals, rehabilitation technicians as well as therapists, doctors, engineers and medical trade and insurance companies' employees with a unique range of products and services. The next OTWorld will take place from 10 to 13 May 2022 in Leipzig as an international on-site event with a supplementary digital programme.

The German Association of Orthopaedic Technology (BIV-OT) is OTWorld's conceptual partner. The owner of the OTWorld brand and organiser of the congress is Confairmed GmbH. The Leipziger Messe GmbH is responsible for the trade show.