Simulating in-vivo knee kinetics and kinematics of tibio-femoral articulation with a subject-specific finite element model

Abstract

Knee joint is the largest and the most complicated joint in the body. It is subjected to a very high load during sports and some occupational activities. Therefore complications of the knee joint occur from various sources including daily routine activities but clinical intervention is still very limited. Accurate finite element (FE) model of the knee joint will be valuable in investigating mechanisms of knee joint disorders and planning clinical procedures. We developed an anatomically based subject-specific FE model of the knee joint and investigated contact force distribution changes at the tibiofemoral articulation during gait. Our FE model includes bones, ligaments, cartilage layers on the tibio-femoral contact interface as well as the menisci. The generic model was customized to subject-specific MRI data. Gait analysis was performed with the same subject to obtain subject-specific boundary and loading conditions. The gait cycle was divided into discrete steps and FE analysis was performed at each step. The simulation results showed in-vivo kinematics and kinetics, especially how the tibio-femoral contact force changes during gait realistically.