Joint inflammation (arthritis) is a common problem in medical practice and can be due to a variety of causes. Many types of inflammatory disorders affecting the joints belong to the diverse group of rheumatic diseases. The most common ones are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis which frequently affect the joints of the hands. These joint diseases are chronic in nature and cannot be cured yet. However, an early diagnosis and thus early medical treatment tremendously improves long-term outcome. That is why experts working on the EC-funded project IACOBUS led by the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT are developing a finger scanner which in the future will allow arthritis of the hands to be diagnosed at a very early stage.
