Positive response at German Orthopedists' Congress and Medica 2003

aap's 2004 growth motors AEQUOS®, VarioFit®, PerOssal® and stable-angle plates convince an international specialist public

aap Implantate AG, a specialist in artificial and biomedical implants for the musculo-skeletal system listed in the German stock exchange's Prime Standard segment, pre-sented its innovative stable-angle plates for treating fractures of the upper and lower arm to a specialist public for the first time at the German Orthopedists' Congress, held in Berlin from 13 to 16 November.

Both the humerus and the radius plate feature a spherical thread on the screw head and in the hole in the plate, ensuring that the plate stays at a stable angle. This means that the plate is fixed permanently and retains a firm hold even in osteoporotic bone. This property enables the physician to undertake exercises with the patient immediate-ly after the operation, thereby shortening the rehabilitation period. What is more, the spherical shape of the thread holes makes it possible to use the much less expensive standard screws. In this way, aap is also seeking to take into account the growing cost pressure faced by the health system.

Along with the stable-angle plates, the interest of congress visitors was focused on three other new products - the synthetic bone substitute PerOssal®, the VarioFit® smart hip endoprosthesis, and the innovative AEQUOS® knee endoprosthesis. The or-tho-pedists' positive response confirms the quality of these product developments.

PerOssal® is used as a bone substitute for filling and reconstruction bone defects while simultaneously stimulating bone fracture healing and bone growth. It contains Ostim® nanocrystalline hydroxylapatite, which makes it fully absorbable, enabling new, endo-genous bone to build quickly through the bone defect, thereby sparing the patient further surgery to remove the implant. In addition, PerOssal® can absorb active ingre-dients such as antibiotics from liquids and disperse them over a specified period.

VarioFit® is a two-part hip endoprosthesis shaft that can be adjusted optimally to the patient's anatomical requirements by means of variable combinations of the hip shaft and the four different cones that are supplied to fit on it. The angle, decided before the operation, is set by means of a patented grid system. Special instruments ensure that the operation goes ahead in a way that is as easy as possible on the patient and that the implant is positioned precisely.

The AEQUOS® knee endoprosthesis is the first of its kind with joint surfaces that are modeled on nature and, as a result, feature a natural roll and slide behavior. This en-sures that the patient has a self-stabilizing implant and, at the same time, one that has a wide range of movement. Both the patented surface shape and the movement mini-mize wear and tear on the prosthesis. Built-in protection from overstretching supports and reduces pressure on the patient's ligament system.

These additions to the product portfolio mark major milestones in aap's progress to-ward becoming an all-inclusive provider. Customers will then be able to source all the product competences they need - from cementing technology to knee or hip implants and instruments to fit them - from a single provider: aap.

aap also presented its product range to an international public at Medica 2003, held in Düsseldorf from 19 to 22 November. There too, the response to our new products was extraordinarily positive, thereby confirming their quality and the market prospects for our newly developed products that are intended to serve as growth motors for a sus-tained and above-average sales growth potential.