Machine learning based estimates of medial knee contact force are associated with cartilage loss over 2.5 years in knee osteoarthritis patients

Abstract

Purpose: Mechanical loads are theorized to relate to cartilage loss, a hallmark feature of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Knee contact forces are only measurable using instrumented implants. Several studies have correlated external biomechanical gait parameters with medial contact forces (MCFs) from instrumented knees. To our knowledge, no study has related estimated MCFs with longitudinal cartilage changes. The purpose of this study was to predict MCFs from external knee loads in order to relate them to longitudinal changes in medial tibial cartilage volume over 2.5 years in knee OA patients.