Recent developments in computational modelling of the knee

Objective

Model calculations of knee joint loading range from an assumption of perfectly rigid articular surfaces to more realistic simulations of cartilage and meniscal deformation. Rigid-body musculoskeletal models simulate knee contact mechanics using the ‘bed of springs’ method from elastic foundation theory whereas finite-element models discretise each structure into a series of interconnected elements and ascribe material properties to each element. This mini-review describes some of the most recent developments in computational modelling of knee contact mechanics and suggests possible avenues for future improvements.

Design

Narrative mini-review.

Results

Muscle and joint contact forces can be calculated synchronously at a reasonable computational cost (typically a few hours of CPU time) using rigid-body models and elastic foundation theory whereas similar calculations using fully deformable finite-element models can take several days and even weeks. The main computational expense incurred in finite-element musculoskeletal modelling is the solution of a muscle-force optimization problem.

Conclusion

Calculation of muscle and joint contact forces within the framework of a finite-element musculoskeletal model remains challenging. Integrating biomechanical data from human motion experiments with fully deformable finite-element models to simulate knee contact mechanics during dynamic activity is an evolving science. Future work should explore the use of efficient methods such as direct collocation to perform muscle-driven dynamic optimization simulations of movement using finite-element musculoskeletal models. Dynamic optimization may be combined with finite-element modelling to enable predictive simulations of movement so that the effects of changes in musculoskeletal anatomy on knee contact mechanics can be studied more systematically.