Focus on Feet and Shoe
The Congress and Trade Show Programme will be offering a comprehensive range of events covering all aspects of optimum foot care from insoles for high-performance and amateur athletics to splayfoot treatment concepts and treatments for diabetic foot syndrome. The latest developments in digitalisation will also be presented. Futhermore over 100 companies from the orthopaedic footwear sector will present a wide range of solutions and new products at the International Trade Show.
The prestigious members of the programme committee led by the sports physician Prof Martin Engelhardt from Osnabrück Hospital and Dipl-Ing Merkur Alimusaj from Heidelberg University Hospital have placed one focus on the subject of foot care at OTWorld 2022. In cooperation with the Society for Orthopaedic Traumatologic Sports Medicine (GOTS), the German Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (D.A.F.) and the Society for Foot and Ankle Surgery (GFFC), numerous further education events for physicians, prosthetists, orthotists and orthopaedic footwear professionals are offered.
The Athlete's Foot
The care of both high-performance and amateur athletes will be the main topic at several events. The lectures given as part of the symposium on "Innovative concepts for the feet of athletes – Rethinking the shoe and insole"explore the importance of providing optimum insoles and ideal running shoes. The master orthopaedic technician, 4-time Paralympic champion and "Para-Athlete of the Decade", Markus Rehm will chair this event.
The factory talk entitled “Insoles for high-performance Sports” (German only “Einlagenversorgung im Hochleistungssport”) addresses the needs of professional athletes who participate in the Olympic Games or world championships.
In cooperation with the Society of Orthopaedic Traumatologic Sports Medicine (GOTS), the second day of the event will feature the course entitled "The Foot and Ankle in Sports". The course will be led by Prof Martin Engelhardt from Osnabrück Hospital and Prof Thomas Tischer from the Orthopaedics Clinic at the Malteser Waldkrankenhaus St. Marien Hospital in Erlangen. Issues addressed by the lecture series include prevention programmes for averting sports injuries to the ankle and foot, and a variety of treatment concepts for ligament instability in the ankle.
Care for Children
The symposium entitled "Between Conservative and Surgical Approaches to a Child's Foot" (German only “Der kindliche Fuß zwischen konservativ und operativ”) led by Dr Jörn Dohle and Dr Falk Thielemann from the University Center for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery will shed light on a variety of conservative and operative treatment concepts. Examples of topics addressed in this lecture series include treatment for club foot from both the orthopaedic technology and surgical perspectives. This lecture series was developed in cooperation with the German Association for Foot and Ankle e.V. (D.A.F.).
Further discussion of the diagnosis and treatment of splayfoot in various age groups will be provided by Prof Markus Walther from the Schoen Clinic Munich Harlaching and Dr Hartmut Stinus from the foot centre Göttingen.
Diabetes
The number of people with diabetes is rising continually all over the world and not just in Germany. According to the International Diabetes Federation, 420 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. Diabetic foot syndrome is part of the clinical picture of diabetes.
Dr Sicco A. Bus from the University of Amsterdam will be discussing diabetic foot in the congress format "Global interdisciplinary leaders” on 11 May. His talk will include a presentation of the latest footwear design principles, biomechanical pressure relief and other innovations.
Forum Digitalisation
The Forum Digitalisation will complement the contents of the congress programme by providing insights into digitalisation efforts in orthopaedic footwear technology. Presentations will showcase the latest developments in fields such as 3D printing, process digitalisation of the workshop and new production processes.
Market overview and innovation show at the trade fair
With currently more than 320 registered exhibitors from 30 countries, 3 exhibition halls will be occupied again in 2022. OTWorld therefore expects a correspondingly large variety of products in all exhibition areas. In the field of orthopaedic footwear technology alone, more than 100 companies will be presenting their products. These include AFT International, Bauerfeind, DARCO, HEMA Orthopädische Systeme, Spannrit, SPRINGER AKTIV, W.R. Lang and WITZEL VACUPRESS.
The global appeal of OTWorld is reflected in the large number of international exhibitors. From the Netherlands and France, Spain and Italy to Taiwan and Canada, manufacturers of orthopaedic footwear technology such as CYS Group, e-life International, FLEXOR, Frecoma, MEPHISTO, Podartis and TechMed 3D will be presenting themselves.
Digitalisation in particular is at the heart of all innovations, products and services. Companies such as BASF 3D Printing Solutions, foot technology, go-tec, pedcad, Rothballer Electronic and Shining 3D Technology will present their portfolio in 3D scanning or additive manufacturing.
More than half of the exhibitors from the orthopaedic footwear technology sector will present innovations and the latest developments. You will find an overview of all exhibitors at OTWorld in the preliminary exhibitor list (PDF, 398 kB) .
