The Formus Labs team recently returned from a successful trip exhibiting at the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association Annual Scientific Meeting, held at Te Papa in Wellington. Billed as “an extraordinary meeting in extraordinary times,” the NZOA ASM is likely to be the only orthopedic conference held globally for 2020.
Counting 24 exhibitors and over 200 surgeons from around New Zealand in attendance, this sold-out conference featured some of the brightest minds in orthopedics presenting a range of illuminating talks. Exhibiting at the ASM gave the Formus team a chance to showcase the hip and knee platform while also debuting a tech demo of the forthcoming Formus Spine platform.
“It was a privilege to be able to gather with our industry peers, especially in the current climate, for what was a fascinating and fruitful conference. Having our Product Lead, Jenny Lo, and our Research Engineer Alex Carleton also attending was exciting for the team, and a real bonding experience as we look ahead to a big Q4,” noted Formus CEO, Dr. Ju Zhang.
In addition to exhibiting on the main floor, the Formus Platform featured in a podium presentation by Dr. Ju Zhang on the accuracy of its automatic image segmentation neural networks for automated total hip arthroplasty (THA) planning. The team is pleased to report that this was well-received, prompting inquiries from attending surgeons about trialing the platform in their practice.
Other highlights included presentations from Dr. Jacob Munro and the head of our clinical advisory board, Dr. Paul Monk. These talks focused on what’s next for orthopedic surgery and the need for more advanced software that facilitates a patient-specific approach to pre-op planning. Today, modern orthopedics technology has all the tools to precisely deliver implants. However, precisely which implant and where the implant should be delivered is the question Formus is aiming to answer.
The team was also pleased to exhibit alongside Zimmer Biomet, with whom we share a close working relationship. Formus Labs has recently qualified as an approved supplier with Zimmer Biomet, and we’re excited to be working with them on an Australia and New Zealand rollout of the Formus platform in the coming months. With a soft launch of the platform scheduled for Q4 2020, further details will be available soon.
