Computational methodology to study the effect of cable-stabilized knee brace on anterior cruciate ligament strain during single-leg jump landing.

Abstract

Knee bracing is commonly used for rehabilitation after ligament surgery. However, the effectiveness of knee bracing in preventing ligament injuries is not widely studied. This study aimed to develop a computational methodology to investigate the effectiveness of a novel type of cable-stabilized knee brace on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) strain during single-leg jump landing. The brace features a compliant design with nonextensible pretensioned cables integrated within a compression tight garment. A combined in vivo/in silico method was developed for this purpose. A computational model of the cable-stabilized knee brace was developed with linked truss elements used to simulate the cable. The cables were integrated into an existing computational model of the knee. Subsequently, single-leg jump landing simulations were conducted on the model, using muscle forces and joint kinematic/kinetic profiles from 10 participants. Anterior cruciate ligament strain behaviors were then compared between the braced and unbraced configurations. The computational methodology was successful in simulating the differences in ACL strain because of the brace. The average peak ACL strain in the braced configuration was 4.99% ± 2.36% and in the unbraced configuration was 3.23% ± 2.31% (p = 0.091). The methodology developed lays the groundwork for future advancements in optimizing the cable-stabilized knee brace design and refining its potential in preventing ligament injuries.