At the touch of a finger
Globally renowned for education excellence, the AO builds on its innovation legacy with strategy fund support for a new, interactive, virtual osteosynthesis software tool and learning platform: OSapp. The application, aimed at fostering understanding of the biomechanical concepts underlying the principles of fracture fixation, is being launched globally at the AO Davos Courses 2020.
The OSapp project grew out of a post-course discussion between AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) Biomechanics and Modeling Focus Area Leader Peter Varga, PhD, and AO Technical Commission Upper Extremity Global Expert Committee Chair and longtime AO Trauma faculty member Simon Lambert, MD.
“I participated in an AO masters course group discussion at the AO Davos Courses 2018. During one session, Lambert gave a crash course on the principles of plating, with a reminder about the biomechanical principles behind it,” Varga recalls. “It seemed to me that there was a gap in participants’ understanding of the biomechanical concepts underlying the principles of fracture fixation. I mentioned this to Lambert after the course and he said: ‘Yes, that is apparently the case.”
The wheels in Varga’s head immediately began to spin. “I said it would be great to have a tool that could act as an interactive reminder about these biomechanical concepts and illustrate the principles of fracture fixation, and Lambert agreed. That’s how OSapp began,” says Varga. “We are developing an online available, attractive, easy to use, informative tool that draws users in, and we saw that even in its earliest, very crude pilot form, people showed interest playing with fracture fixations in the app.”
Lambert, who has 35 years of clinical experience, 100-plus peer-reviewed publications, and 20 book chapters, including a revision of Gray’s Anatomy chapters on the shoulder girdle and shoulder joint, famously uses drawings to illustrate biomechanical concepts and fracture fixation principles when he teaches, and Varga immediately grasped their educational potential.
OSapp project leaders Varga and Lambert envision a world of possibilities for the tool, including integration with other AO platforms, such as myAO, the AO Surgery Reference and the digital version of the AO Principles of Fracture Management, and integration of a customized module for the AO Trauma Competency-based Training and Assessment Program (CTAP).
“Our short-term focus now is on the launch of the first version of the OSapp web application and getting as much feedback as possible during online testing at the AO Davos Courses 2020”, Varga adds.
From December 3, 2020 you can register here for free and test OSapp.