Budarick, A.R., Bishop, E.L., Clarke, M.L., and Cowper-Smith, C.D. (2021). Rehabilitation Research & Practice. doi:10.1155/2021/5923721
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100% of participants with knee OA experienced a reduction in pain with the Spring Loaded knee brace.
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97.5% of participants scored higher LEFS scores that surpassed the minimum clinically relevant difference.
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70% of participants with knee OA indicated increased weekly physical activity levels.
This case series explored the clinical benefits of the Spring Loaded tri-compartment offloader (TCO) among patients with diverse patterns of knee osteoarthritis (OA). Unlike previous bracing studies, this study did not limit its study population to individuals with similar OA patterns or symptoms.
A survey was completed in a group of 40 adults who exhibited varied patterns of activity-related knee pain characteristic of patellofemoral (PF), tibiofemoral (TF), or combined PF and TF OA. Participants used the TCO brace for at least 1 month and reported on outcomes including pain, function, physical activity, quality of life, and use of medications and other treatments before and after brace use.
Validated outcome measures including the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) were used to assess pain and physical function, respectively. Exploratory measures were used to quantify physical activity levels and use of medication and other treatments.
Following TCO brace use, patients reported significant improvements in measures related to pain, function, mobility, and use of medication and other treatments. These findings indicate strong promise for the TCO brace to serve as a conservative treatment gap for individuals with varied knee pain symptoms indicative of PF or multi-compartmental OA.
Major findings can be summarized as follows:
The improvement in pain scores with a Spring Loaded brace for all OA types exceeded the externally validated “PASS” threshold (orange line) 1
– Tubach et al. 2005. Ann Rheum Dis. 64(1); that is, the pain score below which patients typically consider themselves well.
A statistically significant improvement in functional scores was above the minimum clinically relevant threshold of 9 points on the LEFS scale for all OA symptom groups.
Participants ranked the effectiveness of a Spring Loaded knee brace versus other knee braces they had personally used. Participants consistently ranked a Spring Loaded knee brace as more effective.
University of Waterloo
University of Calgary
Spring Loaded Technology
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 offload the patellofemoral and tibiofemoral knee compartments.
This study examined the biomechanical effects of a tri-compartment offloader brace (TCO) in patients with multi-compartment knee OA while they performed actions of daily living. Results showed that Levitation can significantly reduce quadriceps muscle effort and internal knee extension moments.
By using a biomechanical model of the knee, this study demonstrated a tri-compartment offloader brace (TCO) 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 TCO 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.