Engineering Aspects of Incidence, Prevalence, and Management of Osteoarthritis: A Review.

Abstract

The knee is the biggest and complicated lower extremity joint that supports mobility and the entire weight of the human body and lies between the hip joint and ankle joint. Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease in the knee among various musculoskeletal disorders globally, with an age-associated increase in incidence and prevalence. Health monitoring of the knee joints in daily life, and early OA diagnosis is challenging and draws attention to the various methods of diagnosis for this irreversible disease. In this review, electronic databases have been searched from inception for a detailed study about knee OA and its management. It focuses on various sensor technologies and different semi-invasive and non-invasive diagnosis methods with their limitations. In the last decade, various researchers have engrossed their attention to the potential of piezoelectric-based acoustic sensors to fabricate a wearable device for OA and its management. A sensor-based wearable device using vibroarthrography as a tool can be an appropriate solution for early-stage disease detection. We firmly believe that wearable technology for the detection of OA in daily life activities will play a significant role in managing this disease and help to reduce the chances of total knee replacements.