In Vivo Biomechanics of Cruciate Ligament Injuries

Measuring biomechanics of the knee with an acceptable degree of accuracy is difficult. When the in vivo knee joint motion is analyzed in all its six degrees-of-freedom without compromising on physiological loading conditions, the task becomes even more challenging. This thesis offers a brief overview of the development, validation and application of a non-invasive imaging methodology to capture the in vivo biomechanics of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficient and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) deficient knees.

Measuring biomechanics of the knee with an acceptable degree of accuracy is difficult. When the in vivo knee joint motion is analyzed in all its six degrees-of-freedom without compromising on physiological loading conditions, the task becomes even more challenging. This thesis offers a brief overview of the development, validation and application of a non-invasive imaging methodology to capture the in vivo biomechanics of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficient and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) deficient knees. 

By combining dual fluoroscopy to capture the in vivo joint motion and magnetic resonance imaging to reconstruct the joint anatomy, we obtained a comprehensive insight in both tibiofemoral as well as patellofemoral kinematics and cartilage biomechanics of healthy knees under various loading conditions. These baseline measurements helped us comprehend the alterations in biomechanics seen in knees after injury of either ACL or PCL, which in turn generated clinically useful data for the improvement of our surgical reconstruction techniques.

 Lees het proefschrift >>