Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The biomechanical characteristics of knee meniscus have been studied extensively at home and abroad, but most of them focus on the knee flexion motion. The finite element analysis of biomechanics of knee joint meniscus under the complete gait cycle is not yet perfect.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the mechanism of biomechanical changes after meniscus injury in the complete gait cycle by comparing the lateral meniscus tear model with the healthy meniscus model.

METHODS: Based on the CT scan data of healthy adult knee joints, a finite element model of healthy knee joint including tibia, meniscus and articular cartilage was established. The lateral meniscus tear of knee joint was constructed based on the healthy model. The biomechanical mechanism of lateral meniscus tear in the knee during complete gait cycle was explored and compared with the healthy knee model.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The instantaneous stress variation of the tibia cartilage during the complete gait cycle was consistent in both models. The tibial cartilage stress at each instant in the meniscus tear model was higher than that of the healthy meniscus model. The maximum stress values of tibia cartilage in the meniscus tear model and the healthy meniscus model was 30 and 20.5 MPa. (2) The instantaneous stress variation of the meniscus during the complete gait cycle was consistent in both models. The meniscus stress at each instant in the meniscus tear model was higher than that of the healthy meniscus model. The maximum stress values of meniscus in the meniscus tear model and the healthy meniscus model was 69.8 and 41.3 MPa. (3) In the first 60% of the gait cycle, the maximum stress distribution of the tibia cartilage in the meniscus tear model was much larger than that in the healthy model, and as the gait cycle grew, the contact range gradually spread to the outer edge of the cartilage. After 60% of the gait cycle, the stress on the tibia cartilage was small, and the distribution range of the maximum stress was also small. (4) The stress distribution of the healthy medial meniscus was basically the same in the two models, while the maximum stress distribution of the torn outer meniscus was wider than that of the healthy medial meniscus. A more severe stress concentration phenomenon occurred around the crack, and with the gait cycle, the stress concentration area gradually shifted toward the crack near the anterior corner of the meniscus. (5) These results suggest that the meniscus is an important load-bearing component in human knee joint. From the perspective of biomechanics, the hazard of the meniscus injury on the human knee joint can be observed more intuitively.

Key words: meniscus, biomechanics, stress, finite element analysis, stress distribution, tibia cartilage, whole gait cycle, digital orthopedics