Scientists have developed a new technique to counter the "rapid rise" in knee replacements.
The computerised method will improve the success of replacements and prevent costly and unnecessary revisions to existing implants, researchers say.
Modern knee replacement is a highly successful method of relieving the pain and disability of knee osteoarthitis, which usually affects those aged over 40.
Studies suggest that almost one in two people will suffer from symptomatic osteoarthritis - the degeneration of joint cartilage and underlying bone - of the knee during their lifetime.
More than 90,000 knee replacements are performed in the UK each year, but this figure is expected to rise by more than 600 per cent by 2030 due to an ageing population, obesity and younger people having the surgery.
Patients often require a second knee replacement or "revision".
Researchers at the University of Bath have developed a semi-automated computer program to assess the condition of a knee replacement, a task usually performed by surgeons. The technique gives an independent score for the region surrounding a hip or knee replacement which can progressively worsen with loosening.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article