Approach for Unloading Knee Joint Cartilage Pressure: Potential Applications in Post-Surgical Rehabilitation

Descrizione del progetto

Ginocchiera intelligente per contribuire alla riparazione della cartilagine

Le persone affette da artrite spesso subiscono lesioni articolari, in particolare alle ginocchia. L’intervento chirurgico di riparazione della cartilagine, sebbene promettente, richiede un attento controllo della pressione articolare durante il recupero. Con il sostegno del programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto KNEEUL mira a sviluppare la prima ginocchiera indossabile che riduce la pressione sulla cartilagine dopo un intervento chirurgico e la monitora in tempo reale. Il progetto combina biomeccanica, robotica e tecnologia dei sensori per progettare un dispositivo ortesico che scarica la pressione. Grazie a sensori avanzati e ad algoritmi intelligenti, consente un ulteriore passo avanti verso la stima non invasiva della pressione in tempo reale. Dato che le lesioni articolari correlate all’artrite colpiscono oltre 520 milioni di persone in tutto il mondo, il dispositivo indossabile KNEEUL dovrebbe migliorare la guarigione in seguito all’intervento chirurgico.

Obiettivo

More than 520 million people worldwide suffer from arthritis, with 60% being women. The knee joint is the most commonly affected, accounting for 365 million cases. Cartilage repair surgery, a promising technique, requires strict control of joint pressure during the post-surgery recovery period. The KNEEUL project, a preclinical technology initiative, aims to develop a knee joint brace that unloads pressure on knee cartilage after surgery, thereby shortening patient recovery time. This type of wearable device, offering such functionality, is unprecedented and presents two key challenges: 1. Developing strategies to effectively unload knee cartilage pressure, and 2. Achieving non-invasive real-time estimation of knee cartilage pressure.
KNEEUL will be conducted with the Laboratoire d’Informatique, de Robotique et de Microélectronique de Montpellier (LIRMM) as the host institution, in collaboration with the Laboratoire de Mécanique et Génie Civil (LMGC) and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU).
The project will address these key challenges through two main approaches:
1. Developing a wearable orthosis that effectively unloads inner knee joint pressure through non-invasive distraction of the femoral from the tibial part. This includes: 1) designing the pressure unloading mechanism, 2) creating a stiffness-adjustable attachment mechanism, and 3) developing and realizing the prototype. This research integrates mechanical transmission, biomechanics, and materials science.
2. Achieving real-time, non-invasive estimation and feedback of knee cartilage pressure. This includes: 1) implementing portable measurement hardware, 2) developing a pressure estimation model using multi-sensor data fusion, and 3) integrating the prototype and validating the research approach. This research integrates biomedical knowledge, sensing technology, and intelligent algorithms.