MaltaKnee: Project attempting to streamline treatment for arthritis

Researchers from the University of Malta are trying to see how to make knee replacement surgery suitable also for people suffering from arthritis.

In a statement, the university said that in its current form, this was unsuitable for those who were in severe pain due to arthritis. 

For although this can be managed with medication to an extent, there is currently no way to treat the severe stages of the condition without invasive surgery. 

But a team of researchers from the University of Malta are trying to change this.

In a project called MaltaKnee, funded by the Malta Council for Science and Technology, medical and engineering researchers are  working with industrial partner EMPAV Engineering Ltd to develop a small elastic-like implant that can be placed directly in the arthritic knee joint.

The implant is tiny, so it can be delivered using simple surgery that does not involve such long recovery as joint-replacement surgery.

Once there, the bubble can substitute the job of the cartilage – protecting the joint by shock-absorbing the forces caused during movement.

MaltaKnee should streamline treatment for arthritis, making it accessible for people for whom joint replacement is not...