Method of determining stress effects in components of the human knee and anthropomorphic leg device therefor

摘要

A method is described for obtaining quantitative data on the response of individual components of a human knee to external stresses which comprises having an anthropomorphic knee device which includes individual component means for simulating at least one principal component of the knee and load determining means which after calibration are used to determine the effect on the equivalent component in a human knee joint resulting from that external stress. Also described in an anthropomorphic leg device for performing the method in which cables represent the principal components of the knee and are operably connected to load cells so that the stresses imparted to each of the principal components by a traumatic impact can be individually measured and assessed. Measurements with this invention are found to correlate closely to the stresses in the respective components, such as ligaments and muscle groups, of the human knee. The invention is thus ideally suited for analyzing knee injuries, for teaching medical and emergency personnel to identify various types of knee injuries and for testing of knee braces and other orthopedic devices.