Forum Initiatives

Scientific Exhibits

Personalized Medicine in Orthopaedics, 2011

Retrieval and Analysis of Devices: A New Approach, 2010
Studies of surgical implant devices through retrieval and analyses (R and A) has significantly contributed to improvements in the quality and quantity of orthopaedic reconstructive procedures. Critical to value is rapid dissemination of R and A information under conditions of consensus where appropriate stakeholders (medical and engineering, regulators, companies, payors, and advocacy for patients and legal groups, etc) can contribute to improvements, and thereby enhanced clinical outcomes.

Bone Graft Substitutes: Facts, Fictions, & Applications, 2006 – 2010
It is estimated that more than 500,000 bone-grafting procedures are performed annually in the United States, with approximately half of these procedures related to spine fusion. These numbers easily double on a global basis and indicate a shortage in the availability of musculoskeletal donor tissue traditionally used in these reconstructions. 

Standards Development in ASTM

In response to a changing regulatory environment, members of the Forum sought a new approach to the creation and dissemination of standards to inform the regulatory pathway.  Forum members working within the F04 Committee and its subcommittees under ASTM rapidly developed and received approval of a new standard, ASTM F 2759-09, Standard Guide for Assessment of the Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) Used in Orthopedic and Spinal Devices.  This standard was formally recognized by the FDA in January 2010. Following this template, the Forum is moving forward with fast-tracking of standards within ASTM for metal-0n-metal devices, ceramic-on-ceramic devices, and others as prioritized by members.