Weight bearing influence on knee joint bony contact movements: an in vivo video-fluoroscopy study

In order to understand the effects of body weight-bearing on knee joint bony contact movements, a video-fluoroscopic digitizing system with in vivo human knee extension-flexion motions of 12 healthy adults under body weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions was studied. These 12 subjects were equally separated into two groups consisting of a body weight-bearing group and a non-weight-bearing group. Video-fluoroscopic images were digitized to get three parameters from the knee joint bony geometry. These three parameters were the radius of rotation, the are length of rotation, and the contact point of the tibiofemoral joint, and they were used to decide the knee joint bony contact status of the sliding, spinning and rocking motions. The results showed that the knee bony contact movements under body weight-bearing conditions had about 4 times the incidence rate of the sliding motion under non-weight-bearing conditions. The incidence rate of the sliding motion was greatest when the knee flexion was less than 30 degrees. The knee bony contact movements under non-weight-bearing conditions had a larger spinning motion incidence rate and smaller rocking motion incidence rate than they did under weight-bearing conditions. The larger spinning motion incidence rate when the knee joint flexion was greater than 60 degrees. In conclusion, the body weight-bearing factor should be considered in studying knee joint bony contact movements.