Development Of 3D-printed Unilateral Load-reduction Knee Brace

Osteoarthritis is a common degenerative joint disease,which is mainly caused by the deformation of articular cartilage.Usually it occurs in the load-bearing joints of Middle-aged and elderly.As one of main load-bearing joint of human,there is the highest incidence of osteoarthritis in knee joint.In the occurrence and development of osteoarthritis,influence of biomechanical factors is more and more important.Long-term imbalance of joint load and deformity of lower limb force line are main factors leading to the occurrence and development of knee osteoarthritis.As a non-surgical treatment of knee osteoarthritis,knee brace has become an important means to ease and treatment of knee osteoarthritis by correcting lower limb force line,reducing imbalanced load of knee joint and reducing the friction of articular surface.In this paper,aiming at brace treatment of unilateral compartment knee osteoarthritis,which commonly occurs in knee joint,three works were finished.First,after analyzing advantages and disadvantages of three-point force orthopedic principle and overall load-free orthopedic principle,we raised a new improved unilateral load-reduction orthopedic principle and design a new type of knee brace based on unilateral load-reduction orthopedic principle.Second,by analyzing the force of knee brace and the force of knee with the new type knee brace,the feasibility and effectiveness of the unilateral load-reduction orthopedic theory were theoretically validated.Finally,healthy volunteers and patients were exerted on gait biomechanical analysis.The orthopedic function and security of the new3D-printed personalized unilateral load-reduction knee orthopedic brace were preliminarily verified.Mechanical analysis and gait biomechanical test results show that the new type of knee brace can effectively reduce the knee adduction moment and knee compartment load,correct lower limb force line,and relieve pain.This new 3D printing unilateral load-reduction knee brace is proved to be effective and safe in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.