AO Research Institute Davos Medical Research Fellows ..............................................33

5 ARI Teams / Personnel

5.1 Biomedical Development Program

Program Leader: Boyko Gueorguiev-Rüegg, Deputy: Markus Windolf

Team Members: David Ambühl, Paolo Antonacci, Jan Barcik, Amirsiavosh Bashardoust, Jan Buschbaum, Jan Caspar, Daniel Ciric, Carolin Danker, Manuela Ernst, Dominic Gehweiler, Ladina Hofmann-Fliri, Lukas Kamer, Manuel Knecht, Dominic Mischler, Karen Mys, Hansrudi Noser, Magdalena Remppis, Ronald Schwyn, Flurin Spiller, Peter Varga, Viktor Varjas, Dieter Wahl, Ivan Zderic, Erich Zweifel

Fellows: Jan Dauwe, Torsten Pastor, Guillermo Sanchez, Jana Schader, Aleksandar Stefanov

Supporting the in-house processes for development and design of medical devices according to EN ISO 13485 and running advanced projects in close collaboration with clinical, scientific and industrial partners, as well as with the AO clinical divisions and the AO Innovation Translation Center, the Biomedical Development Program offers extensive know-how, expertise and experience in the fields of biomechanical testing and computational analyses to improve patient care. A variety of clinical problems are addressed by development of new concepts, approaches, tools and novel implant systems for surgical applications and research in traumatology and orthopedics. The process of finding optimal solutions to clinical questions is enhanced by capabilities ranging from in silico methods to very well-equipped anatomical labs for quick and effective hands-on work when an anatomical environment is required. Specifically, tailored test procedures with implementation of supplemental X-rays, video and motion tracking systems are applied in diverse experiments on fracture fixation and joint reconstruction. Advancing with state-of-the-art technologies, powerful numerical methods and comprehensive tools for virtual simulations are integrated to answer various questions with special reference to biomechanical performance of bone-implant constructs. Modalities for medical imaging, processing, and analysis, including CT scanners with a wide range of resolutions and scanned volumes, are interlinked to account for increasingly sophisticated demands for morphological investigations, extract statistical and individual information from medical image data and extend the knowledge on variations of biomechanical bone characteristics and their role in persisting clinical problems. The capabilities of the Program are completed by the Prototype Workshop offering rapid and high-quality manufacturing of devices, tools and implants.

OSapp – virtual osteosynthesis tool for surgical education by demonstrating biomechanical principles of implant fixations.