The organising committee invites free paper submissions from members of the worldwide prosthetics and orthotics community. To be considered for presentation at the 12th World Congress, abstracts must be submitted online for review by the Scientific Program Committee by December 15th, 2006. Topics suitable for presentation at the Congress include, but are not limited to: Prosthetics, Orthotics, Wheelchairs and seating, Engineering, Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, P&O; education, and physical disability issues.

Preparation of Abstract

Abstracts must be written in English and must conform to the Abstract Template available from the Congress web site. The Abstract Template is a Microsoft Word document that includes instructions for using the template and formatting styles for the document. Authors should not change these embedded styles.

Submission of Abstracts

Abstracts must be submitted electronically through the congress website: www.ispo.ca/congress. Abstracts sent by mail or fax will not be processed by the Secretariat and will not be forwarded to the Scientific Program Committee for review. In cases of genuine difficulties, please contact the Secretariat.

Submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail to the submitting author. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledging receipt within seven days, please contact the Congress Secretariat.

In order to be considered for presentation at the 12th World Congress, abstracts must be submitted for review by the Scientific Program Committee by December 15th, 2006.

Presentation format

Free papers at the 12th World Congress will be presented in either podium or poster format. Submitting authors may specify their preferred format for the presentation at the time of submission. The Scientific Program Committee will endeavour to allocate presentations to preferred sessions, but the Committee reserves the right to allocate presentations to another format if required.

Authors who have papers accepted for podium presentations should prepare Microsoft Powerpoint slides and submit these to the Congress website no later than July 26th, 2007.

Networked laptop computers and data projection facilities will be provided in each presentation venue. The Organising Committee would prefer that authors use these computers rather than personal laptops. We recognise that in cases where large video files or specialist software are involved, this may not be possible. Please make the Congress Secretariat aware of any unusual audiovisual requirements at the time of abstract submission. Presenting authors will receive detailed instructions about Congress computing facilities and requirements in May 2007.

Review and acceptance of free papers

At the close of free papers submissions (December 15th, 2006), abstracts will be distributed to reviewers for assessment and comment. All abstracts will be assessed by at least two reviewers. On the basis of these reviews, the Scientific Program Committee will accept or reject the submissions and allocate accepted papers to an appropriate free paper or poster session. Authors will be notified of the outcome of the review process by February 15th, 2007.

Registration of presenting authors

All abstracts will be published in the Congress Proceedings and will be made available on a CD. For papers to be included in the program and in the book of abstracts, presenting authors must register for the Congress no later than April 16th, 2007. If presenting authors are not registered by that time, the abstract will be deleted from the program and will not be published in the book of abstracts.

Knud Jansen Lecture - David Condie

Knud Jansen, MD, founded ISPO and was ISPO President from 1970-1977. Dr. Jansen was an esteemed orthopaedic surgeon in Denmark, having been chairman of the Danish Orthopaedic Association and the Danish Society of Rehabilitation. The Knud Jansen lecture was initiated by ISPO in honour of its founder. This lecture is presented by a distinguished member of the society at each World Congress. The 2007 Knud Jansen lecture will be presented by Mr. David Condie.

David Condie is a Clinical Engineer from Scotland. For many years he was the Manager of the Rehabilitation Engineering Services for NHS Tayside based in Dundee and an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery of the University of Dundee. His principal clinical, scientific and educational interest throughout this period has been orthotics and he has published extensively on various aspects of that topic. He has additionally contributed on a regular basis to the teaching programme of the National Centre for Training and Education in Prosthetics and Orthotics at the University of Strathclyde as a visiting lecturer.

David Condie is a Fellow of ISPO and a past Chairman of ISPO-UKNMS. He was an Executive Board member from 1992 until 1998, Secretary General of the ISPO 2001 World Congress in Glasgow, and is currently the Society's Task Officer for Instructional Courses on the Management of Cerebral Palsy. Mr. Condie is also active in the standards field as the Chairman of the British Standards Institute, Prosthetics and Orthotics Committee and Convener of an International Standards Organisation Working Group (Prosthetics and Orthotics Technical Committee).

Moving Beyond Disability - Jan Geertzen

Jan Geertzen is physiatrist and a professor in Rehabilitation Medicine at the Centre for Rehabilitation, University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands. He is the standing Chairman of the Scientific Committee of ISPO and will become President-elect of the Society at the World Congress in Vancouver. Jan specialises in amputation and prosthetics, and specific pain syndromes such as phantom pain and Complex Regional Pain Syndromes. He is the acting President of the Dutch Society for Physiatrists and is past Chairman of ISPO the Netherlands and was a member of the ISPO Executive Board (1998-2001) and vice-President (2001-2004). He received his PhD degree in March 1998 and became a professor in February 2002. He was a member (deputy Secretary General) of the Local Organizing Committee of the ISPO World Congress in 1998 in Amsterdam.

Moving Swifter, Higher, Stronger - Todd Kuiken

High performance, surpassing the norm for personal mobility and quality of life, is an accessible objective for many prosthetic and orthotic consumers. Dr. Todd Kuiken works to help people with disabilities achieve these objectives. Dr. Kuiken is the Director of the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. The Center focuses on improving the function of artificial arms using neural integration techniques. Dr. Kuiken's research interests include improving the care of amputees, the control of artificial limbs, the study of bioelectromagnetics, prosthetic design & development, and wheelchair mobility systems. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs representing the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Kuiken received a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University, and his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School. He was the Frankel Research Fellow at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in 1992.

Moving Social Boundaries - Yutaka Takamine

Yutaka Takamine was born in Okinawa, Japan in 1948. He completed a Masters of Public Heath and Master of Social Work from the University of Hawaii. After the graduation, Mr. Takamine worked for four years as a senior counsellor at the Hawaii Centers for Independent Living. From 1990 to 2003, he was responsible for the Disability Programme at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), based at Bangkok, and engaged in the promotion of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons. In 2003, Mr. Takamine resigned from ESCAP to be appointed as a professor at the University of the Ryukyus, Japan. In June-July 2003, he worked as a consultant for the World Bank to prepare a report for the East Asia and Pacific region concerning the situation of disabled persons in the EAP region and provided advice on how to include disability issues in the activities of the region.

Moving Beyond Borders - David Constantine

David Constantine is the co-founder and Executive Officer of Motivation, a UK registered charity which initiates sustainable projects that enhance the quality of life of people with mobility disabilities in low-income countries. When travelling around Australia in 1982, David suffered a diving accident which left him a quadriplegic. David completed a degree in Computer Studies and an MA in Computer Related Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art (RCA). While at the RCA David, along with fellow student Simon Gue, designed an award-winning wheelchair for the developing world. Together with Richard Frost they travelled to Bangladesh to test their design, and in 1991 returned to set up the first Motivation project, a workshop producing affordable and appropriate wheelchairs with a simple design. Since then Motivation�s work in 34 countries has had a direct impact on more than 37,000 people with mobility disabilities. It is one of the few organisations to deal with both the provision of disability products and services and the wider social and economic needs of people with mobility disabilities. David is also a semi-professional photographer whose work has been exhibited throughout the UK and USA.

Moving the Profession - Dan Blocka

Dan Blocka is the Director and Professor of Prosthetic and Orthotic Programs at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, the principal educational program in the field in Canada. He is the chairman of the Education Committee of ISPO and will become the President of the Society at the World Congress in Vancouver. He is a Certified Orthotist and provides clinical services through his company, Clinical Orthotic Consultants. As Chair of the Education Committee of ISPO he has been involved in the development of educational standards and evaluative protocols of ISPO for Category I and II levels and has been involved in over 20 evaluations of Prosthetic and Orthotic educational training programs around the world. In 1996, he was awarded a Life Fellowship by the Canadian Board for Certification of Prosthetists and Orthotists for his outstanding contributions to the profession.

The ISPO 2007 World Congress programme provides sessions that address clinical, research, educational, industrial, and innovative aspects of prosthetic and orthotic care. The programme structure maximizes delegate opportunities to follow a specific topic stream throughout the day or to focus on a specific type of session, such as free papers or advanced instructional courses.

• Symposium: Symposia present thematically related research addressing significant problems or controversies in prosthetics and orthotics. These symposia bring together one or more of the world�s leading researchers to present current developments and planned research directions. Where appropriate, symposia present differing points of view on a particular topic.
• Basic Instructional Courses: Basic instructional courses present information on specific topics at a level suited to the beginning practitioner. These might be topics that receive limited coverage in undergraduate curricula.
• Advanced Instructional Courses: Advanced Instructional courses present information at an advanced level suited to experienced clinicians who have already specialized or who are entering a specialized area of treatment.
• Free Paper: A free paper is a professional communication describing a technique, case study, case series, clinical trial, systematic review, or experiment delivered as a podium presentation during the congress. Abstracts of free papers are reviewed by a panel of experts to verify quality and innovation.
• Posters: A poster is a professional communication describing a technique, case study, case series, clinical trial, systematic review, or experiment delivered as a poster presentation during the congress. By comparison with free papers, a poster may present preliminary results or works in progress. Abstracts of poster presentations will also be reviewed by a panel of experts.
• Manufacturer�s Workshops: Manufacturer�s workshops provide an opportunity for industry representatives and exhibitors to instruct delegates about design features, prescription criteria and application of new products and devices. Workshops are used primarily as an educational opportunity. Where possible, presenters provide evidence for claims about the merits of particular products or devices.

The Brian Blatchford Prize

The Forchheimer Prize

The Center for International Rehabilitation Yeongchi Wu International Educational Award

ISPO 2007 World Congress Best Paper Prizes

I am writing to invite you as an ISPO Member to attend your Society�s World Assembly.

The ISPO World Assembly takes place once ever three years, normally at the time of the World Congress. The Assembly is the only forum where all ISPO Members have the opportunity to meet together to discuss activities and latest developments in the Society. We always anticipate that the World Assembly will be a celebration of success.

ISPO exists to serve you as a Member. Also, on your behalf, ISPO is dedicated to improving the lives of all people with disabilities throughout the world. The Executive Board works hard to serve the Society under the direction of the International Committee, which consists of representatives of all National Member Societies. As a Member of ISPO, you will receive information from various sources; for example, through your National Member Society, from Prosthetics and Orthotics International, and through the new ISPO web page (www.ispo.ws).

Once every three years, at the World Assembly, you receive a report directly from the President and have the opportunity to ask questions and offer your suggestions. Furthermore, you will witness the departure of the outgoing Executive Board and welcome new Board Members who have been elected by the International Committee. By being at the meeting you are showing your support for the efforts of the Executive Board and your encouragement to new Board Members to continue to strive on your behalf.

You are cordially invited to participate in the World Assembly. Your presence is important to the Society and hopefully you will find the experience interesting and informative. The Executive Board looks forward to your participation and continued support for the coming triennium.

The ISPO Triennial World Assembly will be held on Thursday 2nd August 2007 at 1.30pm. Please join us!

I look forward to seeing you in Vancouver.

Kindest regards