title: Knee joint forces: prediction, measurement, and significance.
abstract: Knee forces are highly significant in osteoarthritis and in the survival and function of knee arthroplasty. A large number of studies have attempted to estimate forces around the knee during various activities. Several approaches have been used to relate knee kinematics and external forces to internal joint contact forces, the most popular being inverse dynamics, forward dynamics, and static body analyses. Knee forces have also been measured in vivo after knee arthroplasty, which serves as valuable validation of computational predictions. This review summarizes the results of published studies that measured knee forces for various activities. The efficacy of various methods to alter knee force distribution, such as gait modification, orthotics, walking aids, and custom treadmills are analyzed. Current gaps in our knowledge are identified and directions for future research in this area are outlined.
authors.affiliation: Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research and Education at Scripps Clinic, Scripps Health, 11025 North Torrey Pines Road, Suite 200, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. DLima.Darryl@scrippshealth.org
authors.forename: Darryl D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: D'Lima
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fregly
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Nikolai
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Steklov
authors.forename: Clifford W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Colwell
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical