The goal of this work is to improve the outcomes of treatments for patellofemoral (PF) pain by providing a scientific basis for making treatment decisions. It has been hypothesized that increased cartilage stress may play a primary role in the development of PF pain. A combination of factors may result in increased cartilage and subchondral bone stress and subsequent patellofemoral pain, including decreased cartilage thickness, increased joint contact forces, reduced contact area, unbalanced muscle forces, and patella maltracking. We are using a combination of magnetic resonance imaging, finite-element modeling, dynamic simulation, and motion analysis techniques to determine what are the factors that contribute to increased cartilage stress.

Factors that may contribute to increased cartilage stress and PF pain.

Draper, Besier, Gold, Fredericson, Fiene, Beaupre, and Delp. Is cartilage thickness different in young subjects with and without patellofemoral pain? Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 2006. (Download PDF file)

Besier, Gold, Beaupré, and Delp. A modeling framework to estimate patellofemoral joint cartilage stress in-vivo. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, 2005. (Download PDF file)

Besier, Draper, Gold, Beaupre, and Delp. "Patellofemoral joint contact area increases with knee flexion and weight-bearing." Journal of Orthopaedic Research, 2005. (Download PDF file)

Gold, Besier, Draper, Asakawa, Delp, and Beaupre. Weight-Bearing MRI of patellofemoral joint cartilage contact area. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2004. (Download PDF file)