Dr. Barrance of Kessler Foundation awarded $600,000 NIDRR grant to study arthritis of knee

Peter Barrance, PhD, of Kessler Foundation, was awarded a three-year field-initiated grant by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133G140183). Dr. Barrance, senior research scientist in Human Performance & Engineering Research, will use weight-bearing MRI to study the effects of in-shoe orthoses in individuals with osteoarthritis of the knee. Dr Peter Barrance is the study's principal investigator and Jeffrey Cole, MD, at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation is the physician co-investigator.

Arthritis is one of the most prevalent causes of disability in the United States. Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, can be debilitating in weight-bearing joints, including the knee. Because of the high cost and risk associated with surgical interventions, there is interest in noninvasive low-cost interventions such as footwear modifications. However, the efficacy of a commonly prescribed modification - medial/lateral wedging - in relieving pain and restoring function remains unclear. Forty-four participants with functional limitations caused by knee osteoarthritis will be recruited for this new study, which aims to refine the prescribing of in-shoe footwear modifications, using the weight-bearing MRI technology developed under a previously funded NIDRR Field-Initiated Development program.

"Our hypothesis," said Dr. Barrance, "is that in-shoe footwear modifications, prescribed on a patient-specific basis with the benefit of weightbearing MRI, can be clinically effective in reducing the burden of pain and mobility limitation associated with knee osteoarthritis."

Provided by Kessler Foundation