LifeBridge Health Debuts KneeKG System to Aid in Finding Cause of Knee Pain
Baltimore, MD "“ Two LifeBridge Health entities, the Wasserman Gait Laboratory at the Sinai Rehabilitation Center and the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics, are now using KneeKG. This computerized evaluation tool provides real-time analysis on the knee while it is in motion by combining artificial intelligence and machine learning, where the computer system can improve its performance by continuously incorporating new data. .jpeg)
Developed by Emovi, the KneeKG provides valuable information for the knee as an EKG does for the heart. This enables healthcare professionals to determine the causes of knee pain and develop individual care plans for each patient to correct biomechanical dysfunction so patients can live active lives again.
LifeBridge Health is one of the first facilities in the United States to use this new technology. The teams will utilize the KneeKG system in the Gait Laboratory at Sinai Hospital, starting with advanced clinical studies and research on knee health and then expanding its use to patient care.
"Knee pain is a very common ailment, and it is important to determine what's causing the pain in order to treat it effectively. With the KneeKG, we are now able to evaluate the knee while it is in motion, which is critical because many people only feel pain when their knee is moving and weight-bearing," explains Ronald Delanois, M.D., chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at LifeBridge Health.
He adds, "This new system provides us more detailed and granular data that we have not had before. Analyzing the motion of the knee in real time gives us comprehensive information about its potential instabilities and deeper biomechanics, such as angles and displacement of the joint. We are eager to see how this can aid our clinical research division and add another layer of insight and validity to our studies."
To evaluate patients with the KneeKG, the team installs an exoskeleton on the knee and calibrates the system The patient then walks on a treadmill as markers send data into the computer, which creates an animated 3D simulation of the knee in motion and a detailed assessment of the knee. This analysis, which includes dynamic alignment and other mechanical deficits, helps the researchers and care providers to understand what may be causing the knee pain and/or how far a particular condition or injury has progressed.
"When creating a care plan for patients, accurate and timely information is vital. Introducing the KneeKG provides another tool for our therapists to more efficiently and effectively diagnose knee pain to improve strength, flexibility, balance, and, ultimately, mitigate knee pain," explains Scott Brown, M.D., medical director of the Sinai Rehabilitation Center at LifeBridge Health.
According to Emovi, the FDA-cleared KneeKG system is "the first clinically validated tool that meets the global needs of clinicians for objective and quantifiable bio¬mechanical markers linked to pain and instabilities of an orthopedic cause." The company says that "the clinical data extracted from the computerized assessment defines the exact mechanical issue within the knee, giving healthcare professionals the medically necessary information to enhance treatment decision-making and address the impaired biomechanical markers."
Anil Bhave, PT, c