Biomechanics of a novel extra-articular implant for younger patients with knee osteoarthritis

This research aimed to study the efficacy of a novel implant for osteoarthritic knees. This implant is designed to eliminate excessive loads through the knee and to provide suitable conditions for possible tibiofemoral cartilage regeneration. The implant was designed for the medial side of the knee joint. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed for an extended knee position of the knee joint. Contact pressure distributions on the medial and lateral compartments were investigated as well as stress distributions throughout the implant’s plates. Results with and without the implant were compared, and it was seen that the contact pressures on the surface of the distal femur were reduced by more than 90% after the introduction of the implant