Bishop, E.L., Kuntze, G., and Ronsky, J.L. (2020). Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. Under Peer Review. 28: S243-S244.
During chair rise and lower and stair descent, wearing a TCU resulted in significantly less quadriceps muscle effort and fewer internal knee extension moments (Fig. 2, 3).
Patients wearing a TCU reported significantly lower pain scores compared to other bracing conditions (Fig. 4).
A study participant wearing the Levitation brace while climbing stairs during biomechanical data collection at the Clinical Movement Assessment Lab.
Results demonstrate that wearing the TCU lowers quadriceps muscle effort and internal knee extension moments during a chair rise and lower movement as well as a stair descent (Figure 2). These findings are important because both of these measures have been shown to contribute to patellofemoral (PF) and tibiofemoral (TF) joint unloading. The results therefore corroborate earlier research demonstrating the capacity of a TCU to produce PF and TF joint unloading.2
This study is the first to capture the effect of wearing the TCU on quadriceps muscle activity in knee OA patients and provides strong evidence supporting the proposed mechanism of unloading the knee joint. Participants reported lower levels of pain while wearing the Levitation brace, suggesting that there is an immediate effect of the TCU on knee pain during these weight-bearing activities.
Knee extension moment for the chair rise and lower and stair descent in 3 brace conditions. Bars represent standard deviation and * represents significant difference between bracing conditions.
VM and VL muscle power for the chair rise and lower and stair descent in 3 brace conditions. Bars represent standard deviation and * represents a significant difference between bracing conditions.
Average reported pain scores (n=6) for OFF (white), LOW (grey) and HIGH (black). * represents a significant difference between bracing conditions.
In this recorded session, Dr. Bishop discusses research findings on Levitation’s assistive moment and effect on pain.
Spring Loaded is currently collaborating with researchers at the University of Calgary to understand how the use of the Levitation knee brace influences user-reported outcomes such as pain, knee function, quality of life, physical activity levels and use of medication and other treatments. U of C researchers are also quantifying the potential of Levitation to unload the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral knee compartments.
Mitacs is a national, not-for-profit organization that has designed and delivered research and training programs in Canada for 20 years. Working with 70 universities, 6,000 companies, and both federal and provincial governments, Mitacs builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
By using a biomechanical model of the knee, this study demonstrated a tri-compartment unloader brace (TCU) can reduce a number of contact and ligament forces across the knee during a deep knee bend. The results replicate and extend the findings of Budarick et al. 2020, which demonstrated that a TCU can reduce knee joint loading.
This biomechanical study outlines the unique design and function of the Levitation knee brace and demonstrates that Levitation can reduce patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint contact forces to a level that would be achieved by losing 45 lbs of body weight.
An exploratory study of brace effectiveness was completed in a group of adults (n=40) with varied patterns of activity-related knee pain characteristic of patellofemoral, tibiofemoral, or multi-compartment knee OA.