Early targeting of knee osteoarthritis: validation of computational methods

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis, a disease in which inflammation and stiffness of the joints occur. This debilitating disease of the joints currently reigns as the most prevalent among the world's populations. Of particular interest to our group is the study of the biomechanical factors relating to knee OA. Studies have shown that knee OA is related to multiple biomechanical factors, all of which are complexly interrelated. These factors have been seen to produce varied effects on the structures of the knee. This work examines validation of a computational model implementing discrete element analysis, and discusses the potential for large-scale, subject-specific modeling of the knee. In particular, contact stress can be estimated using this technique, and these estimates can potentially be related to OA onset in subjects.