• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.11 s.176
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• pp.182-189
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• 2005

The human knee joint is the intermediate joint of the lower limb that is the largest and most complex joint in the body. Understanding of joint-articulating surface motion is essential for the joint wear, stability, mobility, degeneration, determination of proper diagnosis and so on. However, many studies analyzed the passive motion of the lower limb because of the skin marker artefact and some studies described medial and lateral condyle of a femur as a simple sphere due to the complexity of geometry. Thus, in this paper, we constructed a three-dimensional geometric model of the human knee from the geometry of its anatomical structures using non-uniform B-spline surface fitting as a study for the kinematic analysis of more realistic human knee model. In addition, we developed and verified 6-DOF contact model of the human knee joint using $C^2$ continuous surface of the inferior region of a femur, considering the relative motion of shank to thigh during locomotion.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.723-729
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• 2012

Spring-like leg models have been employed to explain various dynamic characteristics in human walking. However, this leg stiffness model has limitations to represent complex motion of actual human gait, especially the behaviors of each lower limb joint. The purpose of this research was to determine changes of total leg stiffness and lower limb joint stiffness with gait speed in knee osteoarthritis. Joint stiffness defined as the ratio of the joint torque change to the angular displacement change. Eight subjects with knee osteoarthritis participated to this study. The subject walked on a 12 m long and 1 m wide walkway with three sets of four different randomly ordered gait speeds, ranging from their self-selected speed to maximum speed. Kinetic and kinematic data were measured using three force plates and an optical marker system, respectively. Joint torques of lower limb joints calculated by a multi-segment inverse dynamics model. Total leg and each lower limb joint had constant stiffness during single support phase. The leg and hip joint stiffness increased with gait speed. The correlation between knee joint angles and torques had significant changed by the degree of severity of knee osteoarthritis.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.211-220
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• 2004

It is well known that the geometry of the articular surface has a major role in determining the position of articular contact and the lines of action for the contact forces. The contact force calculation of the knee joint under the effect of sliding and rolling is one of the most challenging issues in this field. We present a 3-D human knee joint model including sliding and rolling motions and major ligaments to calculate the lateral and medial condyle contact forces from the recovered total internal reaction force using inverse dynamic contact modeling and the Least-Square method. As results, it is believed that the patella, muscles and tendon affect a lot for the internal reaction forces at the initial heel contact stage. With increasing flexion angles during gait, the decreasing contact area is progressively shifted to the posterior direction on the tibia plateau. In addition, the medial side contact force is larger than the lateral side contact force in the knee joint during normal human walking. The total internal forces of the knee joint are reasonable compared to previous studies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.1627-1628
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• 2013

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.205-212
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• 2003

Many people are exposed to accidents by vehicles or sports. The most frequent injuries by these accidents is concerned with a knee joint. The three-dimensional surface model of a knee is needed for dynamic analysis of knee motion and knee reconstruction. three-dimensional motion data of a knee joint were obtained using X-ray and precise magnetic sensors. The surface data of a femur and a tibia were obtained using cross-sectional pictures by CT. The three-dimensional surface models of a femur and a tibia were made by the method of optimal triangular patch. Using obtained motion data, we simulated the motion of three-dimensional knee joint model.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.315-322
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• 2011

The goal of total knee replacement (TKR) surgery is to replace patient's knee joint with artificial implants in order to restore normal knee joint functions. Since mismatched knee implants often cause a critical balancing problem and short durability, designing a well-fitted implant to a patient's knee joint is essential to improve surgical outcomes. We developed a software system that three-dimensionally (3D) simulates TKR surgery based upon 3D knee models reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) imaging. The main task of the system was to extract precise 3D anatomical parameters of a patient's knee that were directly used to determine a custom fit implant and to virtually perform TKR surgery. The virtual surgery was simulated by amputating a 3D knee model and positioning the determined implant components on the amputated knee. The test result shows that it is applicable to derive surgical parameters, determine individualized implant components, rehearse the whole surgical procedure, and train medical staff or students for actual TKR surgery. The feasibility and verification of the proposed system is described with examples.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.233-239
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• 2003

Three dimensional joint motion data were obtained using X-ray and precise magnetic sensors. Six metal markers were inserted on the femur and the tibia to set the coordinate system. Two magnetic position sensors were used to record motion data and these positions were transformed into the knee motion. The quadriceps muscle was extended in an automatic manner by an extraction machine. Results of the knee joint motion were the same as the clinical data. The proposed method is found to be reasonable in describing the knee motion so that these motion data can be used to simulate the normal knee joint.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.1311-1312
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• 2012

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 1994

A new type of electrogoniometer to measure the three dimensional motion of the human knee joint was developed. This instrument is composed of six potentiometers: four arranged for two universal joints, one for pin joint, and one for axial rotation measurement. The voltage change in six potentiometers were collected through A/D converter for acquisition, storage and analysis. With a developed instrument, gait analysis was performed. Compared to earlier developed triaxial type goniometer, new instrument shows its convenience in application and accuracy in measurement.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.825-835
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• 2003

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of joint angle errors mainly due to skin artifact and measurement errors during gait analysis. Joint angle errors lead to unreliable kinematics and kinetic analyses in the investigation of human motion. The purpose of this paper is to present the Joint Averaging Coordinate System (JACS) method for human gait analysis. The JACS method is based on the concept of statistical data reduction of anatomically referenced marker data. Since markers are not attached to rigid bodies, different marker combinations lead to slightly different predictions of joint angles. These different combinations can be averaged in order to provide a "best" estimate of joint angle. Results of a gait analysis are presented using clinically meaningful terminology to provide better communication with clinical personal. In order to verify the developed JACS method, a simple three-dimensional knee joint contact model was developed, employing an absolute coordinate system without using any kinematics constraint in which thigh and shank segments can be derived independently. In the experimental data recovery, the separation and penetration distance of the knee joint is supposed to be zero during one gait cycle if there are no errors in the experimental data. Using the JACS method, the separation and penetration error was reduced compared to well-developed existing methods such as ACRS and Spoor & Veldpaus method. The separation and penetration distance ranged up to 15 mm and 12 mm using the Spoor & Veldpaus and ACRS method, respectively, compared to 9 mm using JACS method. Statistical methods like the JACS can be applied in conjunction with existing techniques that reduce systematic errors in marker location, leading to an improved assessment of human gait.