Change in contact conditions of knee joint caused by total knee replacement and its effect - (Investigation on two-dimensional model during gait)

Total knee replacement changes the shape of articular surfaces and the cond ition of cruciate ligaments depending on the type of artificial knee joint used. This affects the contact conditions between femur and tibia. In order to evaluate and improve the performance of artificial knee joints, it is n ecessary to determine the variation of contact conditions to which the comp onents are subjected. In this study, contact conditions during gait were ca lculated using motion analysis, inverse dynamics and non-linear optimizatio n methods for a two-dimensional lower limb model, and stress analysis of th e fixation interfaces of tibial components was performed. Results indicated that differences in the shape of articular surfaces and the condition of c ruciate ligaments led to marked differences in the contact conditions and t he stress distributions at the interface. It is generally considered that t hese differences would affect the loosening of the components and the life of the joints.