Simulation of Three Dimensional Motion of the Knee Joint in Total Knee Arthroplasty

인공 무릎 관절의 3차원 운동 시뮬레이션

Severe osteoarthrosis of the knee joint often requires total knee arthroplasty (TKA) to yield adequate knee function. The knee joint with TKA is expected ideally to restore the characteristics, however, this is not necessarily true in the clinical cases. In this study the motions of the intact joint and the joint after TKA were investigated numerically using computer simulation. For active knee extension from 90 degrees of flexion to full extension, the intact knee joint exhibited anterior tibial translation near the full extension while it showed only rotation for other flexion angles. Physiologic external rotation of the tibia near full extension was also noted in the analytical model. The analysis of the tibial insert of three different shapes (flat, semicurved, and curved types) demonstrated characteristic rotational and sliding motions as well as different contact forces.