AO Annual Report 2020

The AO Annual Report 2020, now available online, looks at the challenges and achievements of a year out of the ordinary across five separate chapters—education, innovation, research, finance and governance, and corporate social responsibility—and ARI milestones played an important role.

Extraordinary achievements
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, ARI contributed significantly to an extraordinary 2020 for the AO, with a new record high of 116 publications and a notable increase in its publications’ average impact factor.

In parallel, ARI licensed its groundbreaking tissue engineering technology, Sound-Wave Induced Morphogenesis (3D SIM), to the newly created mimiX biotherapeutics from Switzerland. SIM is a gentle, fast, and easy method used to generate multi-cellular, spatially orchestrated tissue constructs using sound waves.

Further proof of ARI’s groundbreaking work was a study published in eCM Journal, showing that ARI’s thermoresponsive, bioresorbable hydrogel—used in combination with systemic antibiotics—cleared MRSA in 100 percent of sheep studied, compared to 50 percent with conventional IV therapy and cement-releasing antibiotics. Moreover, ARI in 2020 underscored its innovation legacy with the launch of OSapp, an interactive, virtual osteosynthesis software tool and learning platform. The app helps surgeons understand the biomechanical concepts underlying the principles of fracture fixation.

Seventeen papers of 64 submitted were accepted for publication in a special “In Tribute” edition of Injury, honoring the late Prof Stephan M Perren, an AO founding father and senior scientific advisor. The special edition was published in January 2021. Perren, globally renowned for his strain theory explaining tissue deformation as a critical mechanical factor that controls bone healing, died on November 21, 2019.

ARI research with impact
ARI is recognized as a research leader in Switzerland, Europe, and the rest of the world. ARI's purpose is advancing patient care through innovative orthopedic research and development. In the AO Annual Report 2020, you can explore a selection of ARI's notable research published in 2020.