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Applying Simulated In Vivo Motions to Measure Human Knee and ACL Kinetics

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Abstract

Patients frequently experience anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries but current ACL reconstruction strategies do not restore the native biomechanics of the knee, which can contribute to the early onset of osteoarthritis in the long term. To design more effective treatments, investigators must first understand normal in vivo knee function for multiple activities of daily living (ADLs). While the 3D kinematics of the human knee have been measured for various ADLs, the 3D kinetics cannot be directly measured in vivo. Alternatively, the 3D kinetics of the knee and its structures can be measured in an animal model by simulating and applying subject-specific in vivo joint motions to a joint using robotics. However, a suitable biomechanical surrogate should first be established. This study was designed to apply a simulated human in vivo motion to human knees to measure the kinetics of the human knee and ACL. In pursuit of establishing a viable biomechanical surrogate, a simulated in vivo ovine motion was also applied to human knees to compare the loads produced by the human and ovine motions. The motions from the two species produced similar kinetics in the human knee and ACL. The only significant difference was the intact knee compression force produced by the two input motions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by NIH grants EB004859 and AR056660. The authors do not have any conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tissue Engineering and Biomechanics Laboratories, 2901 Campus Drive, 852 Engineering Research Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45221-0012, USA

    Safa T. Herfat, Daniel V. Boguszewski & Jason T. Shearn

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  1. Safa T. Herfat
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Correspondence to Jason T. Shearn.

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Associate Editor Catherine Disselhorst-Klug oversaw the review of this article.

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Herfat, S.T., Boguszewski, D.V. & Shearn, J.T. Applying Simulated In Vivo Motions to Measure Human Knee and ACL Kinetics. Ann Biomed Eng 40, 1545–1553 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-011-0500-5

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