Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) prostheses are semi-constrained artificial joints. A prosthesis design should have a level of femorotibial constraint that matches the device's clinical indication. For example, a cruciate retaining (CR) prosthesis is used for patients who have a fully functioning posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), while a CR-constrained (CRC) prosthesis that compensates for PCL function by offering additional anterior stability might be indicated for those who do not.
To assess the constraint behavior of a TKA prosthesis, physical testing is usually required, and an industrial test standard has been developed for this purpose (ASTM F1223-08). Finite element analysis (FEA) has been widely used in stress analysis and structural evaluation of various orthopaedic medical devices, but has not been commonly used for joint constraint assessment. This study presents an FEA-based simulation to evaluate the constraint behavior of TKA prostheses. The effectiveness of the methodology was demonstrated by comparing it with results...
