Real-time tracking of knee adduction moment in patients with knee osteoarthritis

•Real-time knee moment tracking in knee osteoarthritis.•Patient with knee OA showed substantial changes in knee moments during stepping.•The method can be used for clinical evaluations and biofeedback gait training.

BackgroundThe external knee adduction moment (EKAM) is closely associated with the presence, progression, and severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, there is a lack of convenient and practical method to estimate and track in real-time the EKAM of patients with knee OA for clinical evaluation and gait training, especially outside of gait laboratories.New methodA real-time EKAM estimation method was developed and applied to track and investigate the EKAM and other knee moments during stepping on an elliptical trainer in both healthy subjects and a patient with knee OA.ResultsSubstantial changes were observed in the EKAM and other knee moments during stepping in the patient with knee OA.Comparison with existing method(s)This is the first study to develop and test feasibility of real-time tracking method of the EKAM on patients with knee OA using 3-D inverse dynamics.ConclusionsThe study provides us an accurate and practical method to evaluate in real-time the critical EKAM associated with knee OA, which is expected to help us to diagnose and evaluate patients with knee OA and provide the patients with real-time EKAM feedback rehabilitation training.