J0210301 Evaluation for the Length Patterns in the Posterior Cruciate Ligament of Knee Based on the Motion Analysis of Six Degrees of Freedom In Vivo

Abstract

The knee ligaments are giving stability to the knee joints. Main function of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) is to prevent the posterior dislocation of the tibia with respect to the femur. The PCL reconstruction surgery is performed in case of the functional impairment by ligament damage. However, a clear footprint of the PCL is not determined. Therefore, the operative procedures and the bone tunnel positions in PCL reconstruction are entrusted to the discretion of the operator. This study evaluated positions of the PCL footprint using an image matching technique by in vivo six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion analysis for the natural knee joints. Average errors of this technique is within 1.0 mm for the translation, and within 1.0 degrees for the rotation. The PCL was divided into anterolateral (AL) bundle and posteromedial (PM) bundle anatomically. We report the length patterns of AL bundle and PM bundle in the squat activity. Subjects were the natural knee joints of four healthy men. The AL bundle becomes tense in flexion, the PM bundle becomes tense in flexion and extension by bone tunnel position. We showed the importance of bone tunnel position and the functional advantage of double-bundle PCL reconstruction.