Dataset Information

Predicted loading on the menisci during gait: The effect of horn laxity.

ABSTRACT: Radiographic measurements have established a link between meniscus extrusion and meniscus degeneration as well as with knee osteoarthritis. The presented work combines medical imaging with motion capture data from two healthy female subjects to create subject specific knee models that predict tibio-menisco-femoral contact forces and ligament forces during muscle driven simulations of barefoot gait. The developed computational models were used to explore the relationship between the extent of meniscal extrusion and biomechanical function by altering the laxity of the meniscal horn attachments during gait. The extrusion distance increased as laxity increased and the amount of contact force transferred through the menisci during gait decreased rapidly as the meniscal attachments became more lax. Horn attachment lengths that were 20% longer than MRI attachment lengths resulted in an almost complete loss of force transfer through the menisci during the gait cycle. Relatively small changes (2-3mm) in the lengths at which horn bundles first become taut, manifested in large changes in the capacity of the tissue to transmit forces. As meniscal horn attachment laxity increased from 80% to 120% of the MRI measured horn distance, medial meniscus extrusion increased 3.9mm for the first subject and 2.7mm for the second subject. For the same horn laxity changes, the percent of medial tibiofemoral contact force transmitted through the medial meniscus during early stance decreased from 51% to 8% and from 36% to 14% for the two subjects. The results of our study show that increased meniscal extrusion occurs with increased laxity of the meniscal tibia attachments and this increased laxity results in loss of meniscal function.

SUBMITTER: Guess TM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4442067 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Predicted loading on the menisci during gait: The effect of horn laxity.

Guess Trent M TM Razu Swithin S Jahandar Hamidreza H Stylianou Antonis A

Journal of biomechanics 20150314 8

Radiographic measurements have established a link between meniscus extrusion and meniscus degeneration as well as with knee osteoarthritis. The presented work combines medical imaging with motion capture data from two healthy female subjects to create subject specific knee models that predict tibio-menisco-femoral contact forces and ligament forces during muscle driven simulations of barefoot gait. The developed computational models were used to explore the relationship between the extent of men ...[more]

PMID: 25814179

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Project description:Hip osteoarthritis may be caused by increased or abnormal intra-articular forces, which are known to be related to structural articular cartilage damage. Femoral torsional deformities have previously been correlated with hip pain and labral damage, and they may contribute to the onset of hip osteoarthritis by exacerbating the effects of existing pathoanatomies, such as cam and pincer morphologies. A comprehensive understanding of the influence of femoral morphotypes on hip joint loading requires subject-specific morphometric and biomechanical data on the movement characteristics of individuals exhibiting varying degrees of femoral torsion. The aim of this study was to evaluate hip kinematics and kinetics as well as muscle and joint loads during gait in a group of adult subjects presenting a heterogeneous range of femoral torsion by means of personalized musculoskeletal models. Thirty-seven healthy volunteers underwent a 3D gait analysis at a self-selected walking speed. Femoral torsion was evaluated with low-dosage biplanar radiography. The collected motion capture data were used as input for an inverse dynamics analysis. Personalized musculoskeletal models were created by including femoral geometries that matched each subject's radiographically measured femoral torsion. Correlations between femoral torsion and hip kinematics and kinetics, hip contact forces (HCFs), and muscle forces were analyzed. Within the investigated cohort, higher femoral antetorsion led to significantly higher anteromedial HCFs during gait (medial during loaded stance phase and anterior during swing phase). Most of the loads during gait are transmitted through the anterior/superolateral quadrant of the acetabulum. Correlations with hip kinematics and muscle forces were also observed. Femoral antetorsion, through altered kinematic strategies and different muscle activations and forces, may therefore lead to altered joint mechanics and pose a risk for articular damage. The method proposed in this study, which accounts for both morphological and kinematic characteristics, might help in identifying in a clinical setting patients who, as a consequence of altered femoral torsional alignment, present more severe functional impairments and altered joint mechanics and are therefore at a higher risk for cartilage damage and early onset of hip osteoarthritis.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:The current study quantified the influence of cartilage defect location on the tibiofemoral load distribution during gait. Furthermore, changes in local mechanical stiffness representative for matrix damage or bone ingrowth were investigated. This may provide insights in the mechanical factors contributing to cartilage degeneration in the presence of an articular cartilage defect. METHODS:The load distribution following cartilage defects was calculated using a musculoskeletal model that included tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints with 6 degrees-of-freedom. Circular cartilage defects of 100 mm2 were created at different locations in the tibiofemoral contact geometry. By assigning different mechanical properties to these defect locations, softening and hardening of the tissue were evaluated. RESULTS:Results indicate that cartilage defects located at the load-bearing area only affect the load distribution of the involved compartment. Cartilage defects in the central part of the tibia plateau and anterior-central part of the medial femoral condyle present the largest influence on load distribution. Softening at the defect location results in overloading, i.e., increased contact pressure and compressive strains, of the surrounding tissue. In contrast, inside the defect, the contact pressure decreases and the compressive strain increases. Hardening at the defect location presents the opposite results in load distribution compared to softening. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the surrounding contact pressure, contact force and compressive strain alter significantly when the elastic modulus is below 7 MPa or above 18 MPa. CONCLUSION:Alterations in local mechanical behavior within the high load bearing area resulted in aberrant loading conditions, thereby potentially affecting the homeostatic balance not only at the defect but also at the tissue surrounding and opposing the defect. Especially, cartilage softening predisposes the tissue to loads that may contribute to accelerated risk of cartilage degeneration and the initiation or progression towards osteoarthritis of the whole compartment.

Dataset Information

Predicted loading on the menisci during gait: The effect of horn laxity.

Publications

Predicted loading on the menisci during gait: The effect of horn laxity.

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