Marco van Bastens case is puzzling: why does a healthy, active teenager end up with a lasting disability from ankle osteoarthritis just a few years after a simple ankle sprain? To prevent this from happening again, we are developing a new tool that can measure right after the injury if there is damage in the ankle and how severe it is. In a large-scale study, we want to find out if this damage gets worse, leading to osteoarthritis. With this tool, and what we learn, we are hopefully able to treat osteoarthritis before it gets to a point-of-no-return.

Osteoarthritis is a painful, disabling joint disease that affects millions of people. There is no cure for Osteoarthritis. Patients are encouraged to stay physically active, but the optimal joint loading for the individual patient is not known. The LoaD project aims to obtain this knowledge and develop personalised support strategies for use in daily life.