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Being Active with Osteoarthritis

Project partners:
  • Mobilab
  • Fontys Paramedische hogeschool
  • KU Leuven

Previous research has shown that some patients with knee osteoarthritis exercise too strenuously, which may have an adverse effect on the course of the disease. At present, the only method to determine knee load is a three-dimensional motion capture combined with data obtained by means of a force platform. This equipment is expensive and not widely available. Physiotherapists lack methods to determine the knee load in individual patients, although this might help in the assessment of the exercises of the patient.

During this project, 3 existing instruments will be tested, to evaluate whether these instruments could give an estimation of the knee load during several everyday movements.

Research questions:
Is it possible to objectively estimate knee load by means of a mobile measuring instrument?
a. Would an instrumented orthosis be able to approach knee load objectively?
b. Would a 3D gyroscope be able to approach knee load objectively?
c. Would a 3D accelerometer be able to approach knee load objectively?

The knee orthosis will be evaluated at Mobilab (Thomas More), the 3D gyroscope will be evaluated at Fontys Paramedische Hogeschool and the 3D accelerometer will be tested at KU Leuven.  All three locations have comparable equipment. At each location, we will measure 20 people with knee osteoarthritis.

All participants will perform 3 everyday activities: walking, standing up from a chair, and walking down a stair. All activities will be performed 6 times. During performance of the activities, participants will be measured with 3D movement registration combined with a force platform and electromyography (EMG) of 7 leg muscles. Based on these data, a digital musculoskeletal model will be created, by which the knee adduction moment (knee load) can be calculated. At the same time, the mobile measuring instrument will be used. The data of the mobile instrument then will be compared to the data of the 3D-model.


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