title: Can a knee brace reduce the strain in the anterior cruciate ligament? A study using combined in vivo/in vitro method.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is unknown whether prophylactic knee braces can reduce the strain in the anterior cruciate ligament during dynamic activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  An athlete, who had characteristics of high anterior cruciate ligament injury risk, was chosen. A motion capture system (Optotrak Certus; Northern Digital, Waterloo, ON, Canada) was used to record dynamic trials during drop-landing activity of this subject with and without the knee brace being worn. A musculoskeletal model was used to estimate the muscle forces during this activity. A dynamic knee simulator then applied kinematics and muscle forces on a cadaver knee with and without the brace mounted on it. The anterior cruciate ligament strain was measured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The peak strain in the anterior cruciate ligament was substantially lower for the braced (7%) versus unbraced (20%) conditions. Functional knee braces could decrease the strain in the anterior cruciate ligament during dynamic activities in a high-risk subject. However, the reduction seems to be a result of altered muscle firing pattern due to the brace.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prophylactic knee brace could reduce the strain in the anterior cruciate ligament of high-risk subjects during drop-landing through altered muscle firing pattern associated with brace wear. This could help reduce the anterior cruciate ligament injury risk.
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors: Gajendra
authors: G
authors: Hangalur
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors: Elora
authors: E
authors: Brenneman
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors: Micah
authors: M
authors: Nicholls
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors: Ryan
authors: R
authors: Bakker
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Laing
authors: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada nchandra@uwaterloo.ca.
authors: Naveen
authors: N
authors: Chandrashekar
mesh_terms: D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001915:Braces / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D007718:Knee Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anterior cruciate ligament; bracing; injury risk; knee; ligaments; strain