| In vitro biomechanical joint testing is performed with cadaveric specimens; equipment, such as robots, are employed to simulate the in vivo mechanical environment. In this thesis, MATLAB code was developed and incorporated with a 6 degree-of-freedom (DOF) Parallel robot and 6-DOF load cell to manipulate cadaveric joints in position, load and hybrid controls within tolerances of +/-0.01mm, +/-0.01°, +/-2N, and +/-0.3Nm. This robotic system was then applied to simulate the early stance phase of gait for ovine stifles. Accordingly, static physiologic kinematics/kinetics were applied to the specimens in order to measure the contact pressures on the medial and lateral compartments of the tibial plateaus. This phase represented a period of severe loading for the joint, and using pressure film, it was determined that the medial and lateral sides bore 5.53x10 6 +/- 0.94x106N/m2 and 4.44x10 6 +/- 1.07x106N/m2 of pressure respectively on 107.7 +/- 28.7mm2 and 60.8 +/- 56.3mm 2 of area respectively. |
