Measuring Knee Joint Laxity in Three Degrees-of-Freedom In Vivo Using a Robotics- and Image-Based Technology

Accurate and reliable information about three-dimensional (3D) knee joint laxity can prevent misdiagnosis and avoid incorrect treatments. Nevertheless, knee laxity assessments presented in the literature suffer from significant drawbacks such as soft tissue artifacts, restricting the knee within the measurement, and the absence of quantitative knee ligament property information. In this study, we demonstrated the applicability of a novel methodology for measuring 3D knee laxity, combining robotics- and image-based technology. As such technology has never been applied to healthy living subjects, the aims of this study were to develop novel technology to measure 3D knee laxity in vivo and to provide proof-of-concept 3D knee laxity measurements. To measure tibiofemoral movements, four healthy subjects were placed on a custom-built arthrometer located inside a low dose biplanar X-ray system with an approximately 60 deg knee flexion angle. Anteroposterior and mediolateral translation as well as internal and external rotation loads were subsequently applied to the unconstrained leg, which was placed inside a pneumatic cast boot. Bone contours were segmented in the obtained X-rays, to which subject-specific bone geometries from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were registered. Afterward, tibiofemoral poses were computed. Measurements of primary and secondary laxity revealed considerable interpersonal differences. The method differs from those available by the ability to accurately track secondary laxity of the unrestricted knee and to apply coupled forces in multiple planes. Our methodology can provide reliable information for academic knee ligament research as well as for clinical diagnostics in the future.