New acoustic device developed to measure sounds made by knees

The sounds made by the knee during movement could be recorded and analysed more easily following the development of an innovative new device.

Created by the Georgia Institute of Technology, the system uses a knee band equipped with microphones and vibration sensors to listen to and measure the sounds inside the joint, including the cracking and popping that often occur in injured knees.

In the longer term, it is hoped that this sonic information can be charted and decoded into useful patterns. Currently, the team is creating graphs of the recorded audio and matching it to the joint's range of motion to see what causes the sounds.

One problem to be overcome is the fact that the fluid in the knee joint muffles these sounds to an extent, as well as the fact that movement inherently causes background noise that can distort the readings.

However, if these challenges can be addressed, it should be possible to create inexpensive wearable monitors to assess the joint health of athletes, injured soldiers and older people who have suffered falls.