FE Analysis Of Meniscus Injury In A Square Stance Tennis Forehand Drive-a Case Study

Abstract

Meniscus tears are common among tennis players. Currently, little is known regarding knee joint kinematic and kinetic characteristics during a square stance tennis forehand that may lead to an increased risk of a meniscus injury. PURPOSE:To study loading characteristics of meniscus during a square stance tennis forehand swing using a dynamics model and a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model. METHODS: Two female Chinese players (age 14 y) with 6 years of competitive tennis experience performed three square stance tennis forehand drives. Of the two players, one had a lateral meniscus tear of the left knee joint and the other had no history of knee injury. Three-dimensional kinematic motion and ground reaction force data were collected using VICON and AMTI (120 Hz/1200Hz)and then imported into the OpenSIM software to obtain movement data of the tibia and femur. CT and MRI were used to image a healthy human knee that included the femur, tibia, cartilage layers, menisci and ligaments. 2D data were imported into Mimics software to develop a 3D finite element model of the healthy human knee. The 3D model was imported into HyperWorks software to compute the 3D finite-element models of the knee. Last, the loading data of the movement obtained from OpenSIM was imported and transformed into HyperWorks to obtain the distribution stress of the meniscus. RESULTS:Compared with the non-injury player, the athlete with the meniscus tear exhibited excessive tibia rotation, showed a higher level of biomechanical stress of the lateral meniscus and demonstrated greater peak value (figure 1,figure 2). CONCLUSION:In the acceleration stage of the square stance tennis forehand, differences were observed in the tibial rotation of the healthy and injured players leading one to speculate that the rotation of the knee joint may be related to meniscus injury. Additional studies are needed to verify this speculation and to infer causality.