Improving the accuracy of measuring 6 degree of freedom tibiofemoral kinematics is a crucial step in gait analysis, but skin-marker estimated kinematics are subject to soft tissue artefacts. Fluoroscopic systems have been reported to achieve high accurate kinematics, but their induced irradiation, limited field of view, and high cost hampers routine usage on large patient cohorts. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of measuring tibiofemoral kinematics using multi-channel A-mode ultrasound system in cadaver experiment and to assess its achievable accuracy. A full cadaver was placed with its back on a surgery table while its legs were overhanging the edge of the table. Upper body was fixated and right leg was moved by means of pulling a rope. Two bone pins with optical markers were mounted to the femur and tibia separately to measure the ground truth of motion. Six custom holders containing 30 A-mode ultrasound transducers and 18 optical markers were mounted to six anatomical regions. By measuring the bone to ultrasound transducer distance and using the spatial information of the optical markers on the holders, 30 bone surface points were determined. The corresponding bones (femur and tibia) were registered to these acquired points after which the tibiofemoral kinematics were determined. This study presents a multi-channel A-mode ultrasound system and the first results have shown its feasibility of reconstructing tibiofemoral kinematics in cadaver experiment. Although the reconstructed tibiofemoral kinematics is less accurate than a fluoroscopic system, it outperforms a skin-mounted markers system. Thus, this A-mode Ultrasound approach could provide a non-invasive and non-radiative method for measuring tibiofemoral kinematics, which may be used in clinic gait analysis or even computer-aided orthopaedic surgery.
Finite element (FE) models have become a standard pre-clinical tool to study biomechanics of spine and are used to simulate and evaluate different strategies in scoliosis treatment: examine their efficacy as well as the effect of different implant design parameters. The goal of this study is to investigate, in a system of rods and laminar wires, the effect of the number of wires and their pre-stress on whole spine stiffness. A generic FE model was developed to represent a full human spine, including vertebrae, intervertebral discs, ligaments, facet and costovertebral joints, and ribcage. Intervertebral discs were modeled with 3D rebar elements with linear elastic material properties. Vertebrae, ribs, sternum, facet joints, cartilage and endplates were modeled with brick elements, and costal muscles with shell elements with linear elastic properties. Furthermore, ligaments were modeled with truss elements with nonlinear hypo-elastic properties. The spine model was instrumented from T7 to T12 with rods and wires modeled as titanium. Nonlinear contact properties were defined for rib neck-vertebra, transverse processes-rib and facet joint sets. The FE model was loaded in flexion and the whole spine instantaneous stiffness was calculated for different wire pre-stressing levels (0.1 to 2 MPa). Similar analyses were performed with changed numbers of wires and whole spine stiffness was calculated.Background
Methods
Many finite element (FE) studies have been performed in the past to assess the biomechanical performance of TKA and THA components. The boundary conditions have often been simplified to a few peak loads. With the availability of personalized musculoskeletal (MS) models we becomes possible to estimate dynamic muscle and prosthetic forces in a patient specific manner. By combining this knowledge with FE models, truly patient specific failure analyses can be performed. In this study we applied this combined technique to the femoral part of a cementless THR and calculated the cyclic micro-motions of the stem relative to the bone in order to assess the potential for bone ingrowth. An FE model of a complete femur with a CLS Spotorno stem inserted was generated. An ideal fit between the implant and the bone was modeled proximally, whereas distally an interface gap of 100μm was created to simulate a more realistic interface condition obtained during surgery. Furthermore, a gait analysis was performed on a young subject and fed into the Anybody™ MS modeling system. The anatomical data set (muscle attachment points) used by the Anybody™ system was morphed to the shape of the femoral reconstruction. In this way a set of muscle attachment points was obtained which was consistent with the FE model. The predicted muscle and hip contact forces by the Anybody™ modeling system were dynamic and divided into 37 increments including two stance phases and a swing phase of the right leg.Introduction
Methods
