Abstract
In order to provide a direct measure of ligament force without requiring ligament cutting, the authors developed buckle transducers which could be applied directly to the knee ligaments. The transducers consist of a rectangular open frame with a removable cross-piece, which is installed with the tendon in place, to trap the tendon. Tension in the tendon causes bending in the buckle frame. Force is indicated by strain gages on the frame. These transducers have not been previously applied to ligaments. The goal of the present work was to demonstrate usefulness of buckle transducers to measurement of knee ligament forces. Some significant results are: (1) the posterior cruciate carries no load in hyperextension; (2) only the anterior cruciate carries load in anterior drawer at 0 degrees, but the medial collateral also carries load during anterior drawer at 90 degrees; (3) in posterior drawer only the posterior cruciate is loaded at 90 degrees, but in posterior drawer at 0 degrees the collaterals are loaded as well; (4) there is no significant preload in the ligaments at 0 degrees flexion or any other flexion angle as long as there are no external loads on the joint.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 71-73 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Applied Mechanics Division, AMD |
| Volume | 32 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1979 |
| Event | Biomech Symp, Presented at the Jt ASME-CSME (Can Soc for Mech Eng) Appl Mech, Fluid Eng, and Bioeng Conf - Niagara Falls, NY, USA Duration: Jun 18 1979 → Jun 20 1979 |