An objective assessment of knee function

In order to evaluate the benefit produced by treating an osteoarthritic knee, clinicians have devised various subjective knee-scoring systems but these often do not correlate well with clinical practice. An objective method of assessing knee function was developed which is simple to perform, noninvasive and reproducible. Various parameters of knee function were measured in a group of normal volunteers and a group of patients with a known knee pathology, and a graph was developed incorporating selected knee function parameters. This graph can be used to show the severity of a knee pathology and to determine the benefits of any subsequent treatment.