Acoustic emission assessment of knee joint degeneration
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of feasibility of the acoustic emission non destructive technique to monitor knee joint condition
IRAS ID
168476
Contact name
Martin Browne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Osteoarthritis of the knee joint affects many people (specially the elderly) in the UK. This can be a debilitating condition, and is usually only diagnosed in the later stages, once the symptom of pain has manifested, and the patient already suffers from osteoarthritis.The present work aims to develop a technique that will provide an early warning of osteoarthritis. It will do this by listening to the knee joint using small sensors while it undergoes a typical daily activity of sitting and standing. The noises generated will be analysed and characteristic signals associated with knee joint degeneration will be identified.To date, the research has been conducted on healthy volunteers, which provide a baseline for this research. By comparing the noises generated by osteoarthritic and healthy knees, the research aims to identify these characteristic signals or 'biomarkers' that can be used to identify potentially osteoarthritic knees at an early stage.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0632
Date of REC Opinion
12 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion