Knee osteoarthritis is a chronic disease that necessitates long term therapeutic intervention. Biomechanical studies have demonstrated an improvement in the external adduction moment with application of a valgus knee brace. Despite being both efficacious and safe, due to their rigid frame and bulkiness, current designs of knee braces create discomfort and difficulties to patients during prolonged periods of application. Here we propose a novel design of a light osteoarthritis knee brace, which is made of soft conforming materials. Our design relies on a pneumatic leverage system, which, when pressurized, reduces the excessive loads predominantly affecting the medial compartment of the knee and eventually reverses the malalignment. Using a finite-element analysis, we show that with a moderate level of applied pressure, this pneumatic brace can, in theory, counterbalance a greater fraction of external adduction moment than the currently existing braces.
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e-mail: dimitrij@bu.edu
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April 2009
Design Innovations
Pneumatic Osteoarthritis Knee Brace
Dimitrije Stamenović,
Dimitrije Stamenović
Mem. ASME
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
e-mail: dimitrij@bu.edu
Boston University
, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215
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Miloš Kojić,
Miloš Kojić
Department of Environmental Health,
Harvard School of Public Health
, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; Center for Scientific Research of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, University of Kragujevac
, Jovana Cvijića bb, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
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Boban Stojanović,
Boban Stojanović
Center for Scientific Research of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,
University of Kragujevac
, Jovana Cvijića bb, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia; Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac
, Radoja Domanovića 12, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
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David Hunter
David Hunter
Division of Research,
New England Baptist Hospital
, 125 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02120; Boston University School of Medicine
, 715 Albany Street, Suite 501, Boston, MA 02118
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Dimitrije Stamenović
Mem. ASME
Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Boston University
, 44 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215e-mail: dimitrij@bu.edu
Miloš Kojić
Department of Environmental Health,
Harvard School of Public Health
, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; Center for Scientific Research of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, University of Kragujevac
, Jovana Cvijića bb, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
Boban Stojanović
Center for Scientific Research of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts,
University of Kragujevac
, Jovana Cvijića bb, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia; Faculty of Science, University of Kragujevac
, Radoja Domanovića 12, 34000 Kragujevac, Serbia
David Hunter
Division of Research,
New England Baptist Hospital
, 125 Parker Hill Avenue, Boston, MA 02120; Boston University School of Medicine
, 715 Albany Street, Suite 501, Boston, MA 02118J Biomech Eng. Apr 2009, 131(4): 045001 (6 pages)
Published Online: January 30, 2009
Article history
Received:
April 7, 2008
Revised:
October 21, 2008
Published:
January 30, 2009
Citation
Stamenović, D., Kojić, M., Stojanović, B., and Hunter, D. (January 30, 2009). "Pneumatic Osteoarthritis Knee Brace." ASME. J Biomech Eng. April 2009; 131(4): 045001. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3072890
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