Knee joint forces (KJF) are biomechanical measures used to infer the load on knee joint structures. The purpose of this study is to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) that estimates KJF during sport movements, based on data obtained by wearable sensors. Thirteen participants were equipped with two inertial measurement units (IMUs) located on the right leg. Participants performed a variety of movements, including linear motions, changes of direction, and jumps. Biomechanical modelling was carried out to determine KJF. An ANN was trained to model the association between the IMU signals and the KJF time series. The ANN-predicted KJF yielded correlation coefficients that ranged from 0.60 to 0.94 (vertical KJF), 0.64 to 0.90 (anterior–posterior KJF) and 0.25 to 0.60 (medial–lateral KJF). The vertical KJF for moderate running showed the highest correlation (0.94 ± 0.33). The summed vertical KJF and peak vertical KJF differed between calculated and predicted KJF across all movements by an average of 5.7% ± 5.9% and 17.0% ± 13.6%, respectively. The vertical and anterior–posterior KJF values showed good agreement between ANN-predicted outcomes and reference KJF across most movements. This study supports the use of wearable sensors in combination with ANN for estimating joint reactions in sports applications.

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EBV seems to function as an environmental risk factor for RA, particularly in patients with the RA-linked HLA-DRB1 alleles.

Sell (2001) Increased interleukin-6 in collected drainage blood after total knee arthroplasty: An association with febrile reactions during retransfusion, Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica, 72:3, 270-272,

In 94 patients 112 knees were examined after high tibial osteotomy for varus and valgus gonarthrosis. Preoperatively, there were 71 varus and 23 valgus deformities. The mean follow-up period was 9.0 years (range 2-21 years). Concerning the pain on walking and the pain at rest, we noted good and excellent results in 73% and 65%, respectively. The radiological evaluation showed an improvement or a persistence of the stage of arthrosis in 69.5% of the reviewed cases. The results according to the HSS score as an objective parameter showed in over 50% an improvement of the patients' situation. The data were subjected to multivariate statistical analysis in which three of four evaluated risk factors were found to be associated with the duration of pain-free survival: certain preoperative injuries, preoperative meniscopathies and a deterioration of the stage of arthrosis (P < 0.05). There was no significance for weight in excess of 10% above the normal body mass index (BMI) limits. However, in a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis this parameter could be determined as a significant factor for a reduced pain-free survival interval (P < 0.05): patients with a BMI of more than 10% above normal limits had a pain-free period of 5.07 years, whereas those with a BMI of less than 10% had a pain-free period of 7.80 years.