OTWorld
International Trade Show and World Congress
(3 to 6 May 2016)
Leipzig, 12 November 2015
International Meeting Point OTWorld
The world of O&P meets again in Leipzig in 2016
Every two years, the global O&P sector meets up at OTWorld, International
Trade Show and World Congress (3 to 6 May 2016). More than 20,000 visitors
come to discuss the latest research and development work and practical
experiences with speakers and exhibitors from all over the world.
Interdisciplinarity is writ large at OTWorld: all disciplines involved in the use
of artificial aids in the treatment of patients meet here. These include, for
example, orthopaedic technicians, orthopaedic shoemakers, engineers,
doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The Congress involves
many distinguished delegates and its attendance list reads like a Who's Who
of the sector. International professional associations in the sector meet up in
the 'Global Networking Area', a platform for information and communication,
to discuss current issues in the sector at an international level and to share
their work and activities.
“I am very much looking forward to OTWorld 2016. As things stand today, we shall
once again be able to offer the world's largest platform for orthotics and prosthetics.
Alongside the leading international trade show, at which we again expect to see a
large number of world firsts amongst the products, our international Programme
Committee has again managed to attract a veritable Who's Who of the sector for the
Congress. With more than 50 lecture series, we offer an extremely broad spectrum
of talks at the highest level, which provide professional insights into all aspects of
modern patient care. We bring together experts from all over the world, visions
become reality and trends open up new perspectives for the future,” explains KlausJürgen Lotz, President of the Conceptual Partner of OTWorld.
“The slogan 'Join the progress' brings the International Trade Show and the World
Congress even closer together at OTWorld 2016,” adds Martin Buhl-Wagner,
President & Chief Executive Officer of Leipziger Messe. “We are setting new
standards with this new concept: this is the first time that the largest and most
important display of innovation in orthotics and prosthetics will take place so closely
integrated with the World Congress and with as many as 550 exhibitors from around
40 countries. Moreover, the event covers a total floor area of around 50,000 square
metres over 3 Halls. The Leipzig Fair and Exhibition Centre is also building a
multifunctional congress centre, covering an area of 10,000 square metres, into the
industrial
exhibition
as
an
integral
feature.”
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Trade Show – The World No. 1
In addition to the well-known German suppliers, there are many outstanding
international exhibitors who will be meeting up at OTWorld 2016 in order to maintain
their stake in the rapid technical developments in the field. They include Basko
Healthcare from the Netherlands, Freedom Innovations and Fillauer from the USA,
the French companies Proteor and Rodin4D, as well as Endolite Chas. Blatchford &
Sons Ltd. and Ortho Europe from Great Britain. Other countries represented include,
for example, Canada, China, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Taiwan,
and the Czech Republic. Over and above these, there are planned presentations by
numerous companies from all over the world at joint stands, including those of
France, Spain and the USA.
OTWorld fosters dialogue on a global level
“We are delighted that we are again able to host the world's largest gathering of
professional associations in our sector. Even if the issue of care and treatment is still
heavily influenced by individual national health services, we are all united by one
question that transcends all borders: How can we improve the quality of treatment
and care for our patients? More than ever before, the steps we need to take today
require global and interdisciplinary networking and exchange of ideas. The 'Global
Networking Area' offers an ideal platform for making many new personal contacts
and establishing new networks, which can and will impact positively on our shared
future long-term,” insists Klaus-Jürgen Lotz, President of the German Association of
Orthopaedic Technology.
Personal contacts are very much to the fore at the joint stand of the sector's
international associations. This attractively designed stand affords the international
scientific communities and professional associations the opportunity to introduce
themselves and their work and to provide information about the health-care
structures, the possibilities for initial and further training and various events in their
own individual countries. Trade visitors from all over the world can come together
here to make new contacts, to network and to exchange ideas and experiences.
International experts in their field attend World Congress
“I am proud of what the Programme Committee has managed to achieve again this
year. At the last meeting, which was held at the end of October, we were able to
definitively schedule more than 50 symposia and free-paper sessions for the
Congress in May. The thematic focus quite clearly comes directly from the everyday
practicalities of treatment and care and deals especially with topics that present
particular challenges in our day-to-day work: interdisciplinary networking, training
and discussion of innovative concepts for treatment and care are all on the agenda
for sessions with internationally renowned speakers. The simultaneous translation of
the lectures will ensure communication across linguistic frontiers again in 2016.
I am, moreover, very pleased that we shall be seeing greater international
participation among what is also the biggest gathering of young orthotists and
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prosthetists. Alongside German students and trainees in technical orthopaedics and
medical students, young members of the sector from France and the Netherlands
are now also to be invited to the 'Youth Academy',” explains Professor Frank Braatz
of the Private University of Göttingen / University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG)
and Congress President at OTWorld 2016.
Distinguished international keynote speakers will talk, at OTWorld, on their specialist
work in the Congress's core disciplines: orthotics, prosthetics and orthopaedic
footwear technology. In the topics selected, such as phantom pain, the
biomechanics of diabetic foot, cosmetic socket technology and obesity, the ground
will be laid for the artificial aids of tomorrow. The specialists will show, in memorable
and practically based presentations, how given illnesses are treated and what kinds
of treatment are possible.
Specialist knowledge and know-how will be provided by, amongst others, Marlo
Ortiz from the Ortiz International S.A. de C.V. in Mexico. He is the inventor of the
M.A.S. socket, which allows greater freedom of movement and has a number of
advantages when it comes to cosmetic design. And it is this latter aspect that he will
examine in greater detail at OTWorld 2016. Another major topic at the World
Congress is provided by biomechanics. Professor Christopher Nester from the
University of Salford in Great Britain will explain in detail “the biomechanics of the
diabetic foot and strategies for relief”. In his talk, he will consider the clinical and
biomechanical context with a view to explaining possible ways of designing insoles,
so as to ensure effective reduction of pressure on the fore part of the foot. New
discoveries in the treatment of phantom pain using mirror therapy will be considered
by Dr. Max J. Ortiz Catalan from Chalmers University of Technology. And Swiss
practitioner, Dr. Susanne Wiesner from Klinik Lindeberg AG, will deal with the
specific challenge of obesity.
About OTWorld
OTWorld is a unique combination of Trade Show and World Congress. Every two years the
event offers a wide variety of choice among current trends, growth strategies and product
innovations for certified prosthetists and orthotists, physiotherapists, doctors, orthopaedic
shoemakers, podiatrists, as well as engineers and funding organisations. In 2014, OTWorld
attracted 20,400 visitors from over 80 countries, together with 548 exhibitors from 37 nations.
Notional sponsor of OTWorld is the German Association of Orthopaedic Technology
(Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopädie.Technik). Owners of the OTWorld trademark and
organisers of the World Congress are Confairmed GmbH. Leipziger Messe GmbH are
responsible for the Trade Show.
Contact person for the press:
Karoline Nöllgen, PR-Manager OTWorld
Leipziger Messe GmbH
Tel.: +49 (0)341 / 678 6524
Fax: +49 (0)341 / 678 166524
E-mail: k.noellgen@leipziger-messe.de
www.leipziger-messe.de
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Kirsten Abel, Press Officer German Association of Orthopaedic Technology
Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopädie.Technik
Tel.: +49 (0)231 / 557050-27
E-mail: abel@biv-ot.org
www.biv-ot.org
OTWorld on the internet: www.ot-world.com
Impressions of OTWorld 2014: https://youtu.be/YOCAZXXw1e4