A Hertzian Integrated Contact Model of the Total Knee Replacement Implant for the Estimation of Joint Contact Forces

Abstract

The prediction of lower limb muscle and contact forces may provide useful knowledge to assist the clinicians in the diagnosis as well as in the development of appropriate treatment for musculoskeletal disorders. Research studies have commonly estimated joint contact forces using model-based muscle force estimation due to the lack of a reliable contact model and material properties. The objective of this present study was to develop a Hertzian integrated contact model. Then, in vivo elastic properties of the Total Knee Replacement (TKR) implant were identified using in vivo contact forces leading to providing reliable material properties for modeling purposes. First, a patient specific rigid musculoskeletal model was built. Second, a STL-based implant model was designed to compute the contact area evolutions during gait motions. Finally, a Hertzian integrated contact model was defined for the in vivo identification of elastic properties (Young's modulus and Poisson coefficient) of the instrumented TKR implant. Our study showed a potential use of a new approach to predict the contact forces without knowledge of muscle forces. Thus, the outcomes may lead to accurate and reliable prediction of human joint contact forces for new case study.

Computational mechano-chemo-biology: a tool for the design of tissue scaffolds

“…González-Carbonell et al [26] used the patient-specific geometry and material properties to study tibial torsion. Dao and Pouletaut [18] created integrated contact models for the simulation of knee replacement implants. Also, Carey et al [12] created subject-specific FE models of the tibiofemoral joint using dynamic stereoradiography data and kinematic analysis.…”