Wearable and smartphone tools to prevent knee arthritis after ACL surgery
Digital Biomarkers of Post-traumatic Osteoarthritis: Toward Precision Rehabilitation
This project uses wearable skin patches and smartphone video to find movement patterns after ACL reconstruction that can guide more personalized rehab for people recovering from ACL injury.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Carnegie-Mellon University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Pittsburgh, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11170751 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You'll wear small, flexible sensors and use your smartphone to record walking and rehab exercises at home while researchers collect short clinic visits with advanced knee MRI. The devices and videos capture how you move outside the clinic without extra tests. Researchers will link those movement patterns to early changes in knee cartilage seen on MRI over time. If connections are found, the team aims to use that information to give the right feedback to the right person during rehab.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people who recently had ACL reconstruction or repair and can attend MRI visits in Pittsburgh and use wearable sensors and a smartphone at home.
Not a fit: People without an ACL injury, those with long-established advanced knee arthritis, or anyone unable or unwilling to use the sensors and smartphone likely would not benefit from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could let therapists tailor rehab based on your actual movement to lower the chance of early knee arthritis after ACL surgery.
How similar studies have performed: Previous pilot work shows wearables and video can capture meaningful movement data, but using those signals to predict early cartilage damage is a newer and still-developing approach.
Where this research is happening
Pittsburgh, United States
- Carnegie-Mellon University — Pittsburgh, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Halilaj, Eni — Carnegie-Mellon University
- Study coordinator: Halilaj, Eni
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.