Sound waves may detect knee osteoarthritis in the future thanks to UK research

A revolutionary medical technique that uses sound waves to identify osteoarthritis in the knee has been developed by a team from Lancaster University.
Microphones are attached to the knee and the high frequency sound waves that bounce back from the knee are measured as the person stands up. The acoustic emissions are interpreted by computer software to give information about the health of the knee.
The portable device could eventually be used by GPs and other healthcare professionals to assess people with knee osteoarthritis regularly to see whether the knee is changing or responding to treatment.
“Potentially, this could transform the ways in which knee osteoarthritis is assessed and treated,” enthuses Prof Goodacre from Lancaster University. “Unlike an MRI scan, this approach can tell you what happens when the joint moves and it can also measure how the knee is changing over time.
“Researchers are only just starting to explore the idea of listening to structures like joints, arteries or the intestines and seeing if the sounds they make can tell us about diseases. So this is a new field and the UK is leading in this area.”

Image credit: Tess Watson