Design of Knee Prosthesis to Sustain ACL/PCL Ligaments and Alleviate Osteoarthritis

As human beings age, their bodies tend to deteriorate. It is the task of an engineer to counteract this natural process to ensure that humans can have a high quality of life for as long as possible. A condition that affects a wide range of people life is a discomfort and pain in the knee. This is most often caused by osteoarthritis, which occurs when the cartilage in the knee deteriorates causing the bones to rub against each other creating extreme discomfort. In this study, the attempt is to design an inexpensive and practical prosthesis to maintain and preserve the patient’s anterior cruciate ligament. The other design goals of this prosthesis are to be manufacturable and applicable by surgeons. Further, the finite element analysis has been conducted to assure the designed prosthesis can withstand the physiological loads applied on knees during daily activities.