Estimation of Tibiofemoral and Patellofemoral Joint Forces during Squatting and Kneeling

Ulrich Glitsch,Kai Heinrich,Rolf Peter Ellegast

doi:10.3390/app12010255

Ulrich Glitsch, Kai Heinrich + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010255

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Abstract

This study examined the differences of knee joint forces between lowering to, or rising from squat, and typical final postures of squatting and kneeling. A biomechanical model of the lower limb was configured considering large knee flexion angles, multiple floor contact points, and the soft tissue contact between the thigh and calf. Inverse dynamics were used to determine muscle and compressive joint forces in the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints. Data were obtained from a group of 13 male subjects by means of 3D motion capturing, two force plates, a pressure-sensitive pad, and electromyography. During lowering into the kneeling/squatting positions and rising from them, the model exhibited the anticipated high maximum forces of 2.6 ± 0.39 body weight (BW) and 3.4 ± 0.56 BW in the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints. Upon attainment of the static terminal squatting and kneeling positions, the forces fell considerably, remaining within a range of between 0.5 and 0.7 BW for the tibiofemoral joint and 0.9 to 1.1 BW for the patellofemoral joint. The differences of the knee joint forces between the final postures of squatting and kneeling remained on average below 0.25 BW and were significant only for the tibiofemoral joint force.

Highlights

Kneeling and deep squatting are common activities in daily living and typical postures in certain occupations, such as carpet layer or tile setter, and in social-cultural and religious contexts, in Asia and the Middle East
General Model Validation-Knee Bending The results for the knee flexion angle in the range between 70◦ and 100◦ strongly correspond with other model analyses with regard to the strong increase in the sagittal knee-joint moment and the joint forces with rising knee flexion [15,30,32,33]
In the debate on the knee joint loading associated with kneeling, squatting, and knee bending, the present study proposes certain quantitative measures for a comprehensive assessment method of these tasks

Summary

Introduction

Kneeling and deep squatting are common activities in daily living and typical postures in certain occupations, such as carpet layer or tile setter, and in social-cultural and religious contexts, in Asia and the Middle East. Despite this common practice the knowledge about the biomechanics of squatting and kneeling, in particular with regards to the associated knee joint forces, is still low. The mechanical stress of the knee joint cartilage during squatting and kneeling is under consideration as a potential pathomechanism [9,10,11,12,13] The reasoning for this is based on the basic principle that knee bending in a standing position causes a strong increase in the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral compressive joint forces

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