Non-Invasively Assessment Of Knee Cartilage Stress Distribution Using Motion Capture System And Finite Element Method

Abstract

Knowing of the force of contact between the tibia and femur as well as the knee cartilage stress distribution is information which is of particular importance in clinical studies due to it is one of the basic indicators of cartilage state and also provides information of joint cartilage wear and predict when it is necessary to perform surgery on a patient. in this research, we applied various kinds of sensors such as a system of infrared cameras and reflective markers, three-axis accelometers are placed on patients hip, knee and ankle respectively. During normal walk we are recording space position of markers, acceleration and foot pressure distribution. Obtained data are including in biomechanics model of the knee joint and geometry of this model is obtained from MRI slice images. This model includes the impact of ground reaction forces, tibia and femur contact force, patient body weight, ligament and muscle force. When the model with boundary condition is created we apply the finite element method for non-invasively determine the cartilage stress distribution and its changes in real time.