such diseases has become a must in our electronic era since the best OA prevention medicine— physical activity, has become less and less of a favourable option. As humans reach an older age, mobility will become an issue as the elderly face problems with muscle strength and degenerating joints. While the issue of muscle strength can be avoided by exercising the muscle, severe OA can only be overcome via surgery. Therefore, early detection of OA can give a huge advantage to the elderly to get help to improve their functional capability from an early stage.
detecting the vibrations and acoustic emissions they produce using highly sensitive sensors and comparing the results with the ideal signal. The type of fault can be easily diagnosed by looking for differences in signal frequency and amplitude. By simply placing the sensors on the body of the machinery the vibration in specific areas can be detected and troubleshooting can be performed.
The human knee joint is also a complex structure which can perform complex mechanical motion in its own range of motion( ROM). The human knee joint is mainly made of three parts, femur, patella and tibia( Figure 2) where each of these bone structures are supported by the leg muscles that produces motion on the joint. As shown in Figure 2, the bone cartilage is placed at the tip of the three knee joint bone structure which plays a major role in smooth, frictionless movement between the knee joints. However due to the wear and tear of the cartilage caused by weak muscle, overweightness or knee injuries, the cartilage is progressively worn out up to a point where the bones become completely exposed.
Figure 1: Average Age of the Malaysian Population Source: Statista
Currently, OA is diagnosed using imaging modalities such as X-ray which exposes patients to radiation especially if frequent imaging is needed within a short interval; or using Magnetic Resonance Imaging( MRI) which involves expensive hardware and personnel. Other methods such as Joint Fluid Analysis( JFA) and Arthroscopy which are invasive, may not be the most ideal diagnostic methods and may be the main reason patients neglect getting diagnosed in the early stages of OA.
Innovative Principles
Detection and visualisation of vibrations and acoustic emissions produced from mechanical vibration is known as vibrography. This method has been used for years in industry for the detection of faults in complex motors and machinery by
Figure 2: Knee joint structure Source: WebMD
When the knee bones are exposed, they will produce abnormal vibrations and acoustic emissions as compared to the vibrations and acoustic emissions produced by a normal knee. This is due to the extra friction produced by the bones’ uneven surface. This allows vibrography to be used to detect and compare the vibrations and its echoes produced by the bone structure of the OA knee with that of a normal knee. This method can also be called Vibroarthrography( VAG).
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