Determination of the Contact Areas in the Patello-Femoral and Tibio-Femoral Joints During Deep Knee Flexion

Abstract

There are many daily activities that require deep knee flexion, such as squatting and kneeling. As the knee moves into deep flexion, the contact characteristics of the knee change substantially. Contact area is inversely related to stress, as area decreases, stress increase. Increased stress levels are associated with cartilage degeneration. An understanding of deep knee flexion kinematics, contact area, and stress has not been fully reached. The primary objective of this study is to determine the contact areas in the knee joint during deep knee flexion by experimental methods and to verify these results with a computer model developed in-house to determine contact areas based on the indirect method used by Hefzy [1].