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Contribution of Soft Tissue Passive Forces in Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Distraction

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Abstract

Thumb carpometacarpal joint space changes when the surrounding soft tissues including the capsule, ligaments, and tendons are stretched or pulled away. When at rest, joint forces originate from passive contraction of muscles and the involvement of joint capsule and ligaments. Previous biomechanical models of hand and finger joints have mostly focused on the assessment of joint properties when muscles were active. This study aims to present an experimental-numerical biomechanical model of thumb carpometacarpal joint to explore the contribution of tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues in the passive forces during distraction. Five fresh cadaveric specimens were tested using a distractor device to measure the applied forces upon gradual distraction of the intact joint. The subsequent step involved inserting a minuscule sensor into the joint capsule through a small incision, while preserving the integrity of tendons and ligaments, in order to accurately measure the fundamental intra-articular forces. A numerical model was also used to calculate the passive forces of tendons and ligaments. Before the separation of bones, the forces exerted by tendons and ligaments were relatively small compared to the capsule force, which accounted for approximately 92% of the total applied force. Contribution of tendons and ligaments, however, increased by further distraction. The passive force contribution by tendons at 2-mm distraction was determined less than 11%, whereas it reached up to 74% for the ligaments. The present study demonstrated that the ligament-capsule complex plays significant contribution in passive forces of thumb carpometacarpal joint during distraction.

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Acknowledgment

Authors would like to thank the Khorasan Razavi Forensic Medicine Center for its assistance in conducting the cadaver experiments.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Research Council of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences [research project number 981843], the National Institute for Medical Research and Development (NIMAD) [No: 4001155], and Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) [No: 4002792].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, P.O. Box: 9177948974, Mashhad, Iran

    Hamed Hafiz & Seyed Abdolmajid Yousefsani

  2. Orthopedics Research Center, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

    Ali Moradi & Nafiseh Jirofti

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, FUM Center of Advanced Rehabilitation and Robotics Research (FUM CARE), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Alireza Akbarzadeh

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  1. Hamed Hafiz
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Contributions

HH, SAY, AM, and AA contributed to the study conception, design, and methodology. Material preparation, data collection and analysis, and original draft preparation were performed by HH. SAY and AM supervised the research. AM and AA acquired the funding. SAY and NJ performed manuscript review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Seyed Abdolmajid Yousefsani.

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Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest concerning the contents of this article.

Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran (approval No: IR.MUMS.REC.1399.633). This research was conducted in full compliance with the codes of ethical conduct from the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

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Associate Editor Joel Stitzel oversaw the review of this article.

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Hafiz, H., Yousefsani, S.A., Moradi, A. et al. Contribution of Soft Tissue Passive Forces in Thumb Carpometacarpal Joint Distraction. Ann Biomed Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-024-03492-2

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