ISTA@AAOS

A New Type of Company Experience at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Meeting in Chicago

From: Peter S Walker PhD, Secretary General, International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty (ISTA). 31 March 2022

Most of the attendees of the AAOS 2022 meeting in Chicago recently (22-26 March) spent some time in the Commercial Exhibits Hall. As you entered the Hall, you were confronted by over five hundred booths displaying company products. Visiting these exhibits, even restricting yourself to your own specialty, would take a great deal of time. It would be ideal if you had some ideas ahead of time, which companies you would like to visit.

Enter the ISTA@AAOS concept. The first day of the AAOS meeting, 22 March, consisted primarily of Instructional Courses, ending at 5pm. This left a gap of about two hours before the evening, ideal for a reception. This time slot was creatively filled with an event with drinks and food, Podium Presentations and Tabletop Exhibits. It seems that the idea of the event was not without appeal; there was an estimated 300 attendees, most staying for the entire duration. Among the attendees were many distinguished surgeons and researchers in the arthroplasty field.

ISTA@AAOS was dreamed up by Seth Greenwald (left), who established Current Concepts in Joint Replacement (CCJR) in 1983, now operated by the Hip and Knee Societies. Those who have known Seth a little longer, credit him with being the first to measure the contact areas in the hip joint! For the program itself, Seth was assisted by Morteza Meftah from NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, and Stephen Murphy from New England Baptist Hospital in Boston. Andrew Amundson, ISTA’s Administrator, put the event together at the Hyatt Regency next to the Convention Center.

The Tabletop Exhibits (see list below), featured in the first half hour of the event, provided companies with the opportunity to focus on a small number of products. There was a great deal of interaction with the attendees, facilitated by a glass of wine in hand and a plate of hors d’oeuvres.

Attendees were then called to attention in an extensive theater area at the front of the room. They were treated to a succession of fascinating Podium Presentations from senior representatives of companies (see list below). The early talks focused on the entire patient experience, and why it was an advantage for generating a continuity of data and record monitoring and analysis. This trend seems to be gathering momentum in today’s orthopaedics. The later talks were about particular innovations in implant design and surgical technique. Will customization become easily affordable? Will computer-assisted surgery become routine? Will 3D printing enhance the performance of uncemented components? Will virtual/augmented reality solve a lot of difficult cases and become the preferred training method for surgeons? The final talk, computer modelling of trabecular bone collapse dynamically in highly stressed regions, would make a lot of designers look carefully at their new implant components, to avoid possible loosening problems.

The event concluded with Hani Haider PhD providing the details of the ISTA 33rd Congress, which will be in Maui, Hawaii, from 31 August to 3 September 2022. Hani, together with Kevin Garvin MD, from University of Nebraska Medical Center, are planning a stimulating program with distinguished guest speakers, numerous company exhibits, and presentations from scientists, surgeons and company staff. The deadline for Abstract submission is 15 April, so please visit the website very soon at istaonline.org and write an abstract on Emerging Technologies in Arthroplasty: the Implant and Beyond.

ISTA@AAOS Program

Podium Presentations

Tabletop Exhibits

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