| In order to understand the dynamics of the knee joint it is necessary to build and study anatomically based computational models. There are relatively few three-dimensional dynamic models existing in the literature.; A computational model has been developed in this study to determine the effect of force distribution among the quadriceps muscle group on the patello-femoral contact pressures and to observe if the distribution could have been optimized for minimum stress. The model representing the anatomical characteristics (bone geometries, ligaments, tendons, muscle force orientations, inertial properties and contact parameters) of the knee joint has been studied for three different cases. Retro-patellar contact pressures, that are believed to be the primary cause of patello-femoral pain, were measured in the model using dynamic algorithms for a simulated squat task. The results demonstrating variation of generated contact pressures in each case suggests their close association with the quadriceps force distribution. |
