ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT STRENGTH - CAN IT BE ESTIMATED BY NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING

For structural and material bone strength, non-destructive tests exist , while no such tests have been developed for ligaments. In the presen t study we compared the geometry and bone mineral content (BMC) of the rat tibia with the tensile strength of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). A significant correlation was found between the mediolateral d iameter of the tibial condyle and ACL load to failure (r=0.83). Calcul ating the area of the condyle as an ellipse increased this correlation to r=0.93. No significant correlation was found to BMC. If this corre lation is also found in humans, the mediolateral tibial head diameter may be used to estimate the strength of the ACL non-destructively.