Effect of knee ligament rupture on kinematics and muscle control patterns during gait cycle with forward dynamics simulation

Abstract

Injury of the knee ligament causes abnormal movement of the knee joint, and if not properly treated, it can lead to secondary diseases such as arthritis. There are several types of ligaments in the knee. The ligaments in the known play important roles in knee movement and stability. A proper understanding of the knee ligament injury is required to develop treatment methods. It is difficult to analyze knees in vivo by non-invasive methods. An in silico musculoskeletal simulation method may be used to solve this problem. The purpose of this study is to predict changes in knee motion and to observe the characteristics of muscle control patterns during daily activities following injuries to the knee ligament through musculoskeletal simulations. A knee model constrained by ligaments based on cadaveric data was developed, and physical properties were adjusted. The ligament model was verified through kinematic data of the knee joint by respsonse to the external force and kinematic measurement during walking. Daily activities were defined as level walking, and a human muscle controller was developed through reinforcement learning to reproduce human walking. In this process, the kinematics of six degrees of freedom movement and muscle control of the knee joint was simulated. Finally, the change in the result of changing the condition of the knee ligament was analyzed. In the case of cruciate ligament injury, tibial translational stability was decreased, and in the case of collateral ligament injury, tibial rotational stability decreased. In the case of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) combined rupture with Anteriolateral Liganemt (ALL), they are similar to an ACL injury. Individual ALL injuries rarely affect joint kinematics and muscle activation.