Designing a Meniscal Substitute-The Effect of Material Properties on the Dynamic Contact Mechanics of the Knee Joint

Mentors

Suzanne A Maher, PhD (PI)
Russell F. Warren, MD
Timothy Wright, PhD

Scope

The objective of this project is to understand the effect of material properties on the functional performance of meniscal substitutes. A previously developed experimental test apparatus will be used to apply physiological loads across human cadaveric knees. The dynamic contact stresses transmitted to the tibial plateau throughout gait will be assessed in intact, meniscectomized and substitute implanted knees; where the properties of the substitutes will span a range of values. Our hypothesis is that the tensile modulus of fiber-reinforced implants can be tailored to reduce average joint contact stresses below that of the injured level, thus restoring more normal load transfer across the knee joint. This hypothesis will be tested by comparing contact stress measurements in the intact, injured, and replaced meniscus in a series of cadaveric knees under physiologic loads and kinematics. This project is a collaboration between members of the Department of Biomechanics and Sports Medicine faculty at Hospital for Special Surgery. As such, the summer student will (a) assist with knee preparation and fixturing (ii) assist with the surgical technique used to simulate meniscectomy and replacement of the meniscus (iii) be responsible for data acquisition during dynamic testing, and (iii) extract and analyze the data from the contact stress measurement system.

Contact

Suzanne A. Maher, PhD (PI)
mahers@hss.edu