Implantable Spring for Knee Osteoarthritis

Healthy joints and cartilage are exposed to mechanical loads during everyday motion and activity. While normal joint loading can help maintain joint tissues, high loading due to obesity, or abnormal loading due to anatomy or trauma can contribute to microfractures, bone thickening, and cartilage degradation. Many osteoarthritis (OA) therapies only provide short-term pain relief or repair focal cartilage damage. When the biomechanics behind joint overload are left untreated, however, the patient may suffer through several rounds of unsuccessful therapies until he or she is a candidate for knee replacement surgery.