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Background: Swimming is commonly recommended as postoperative rehabilitation following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). So far, in vivo hip and knee joint loads during swimming remain undescribed. Methods: In vivo hip and knee joint loads were measured in 6 patients who underwent THA and 5 patients who underwent TKA with instrumented joint implants. Joint loads, including the resultant joint contact force (FRes), torsional moment around the femoral shaft axis or the tibial axis (MTors), bending moment at the middle of the femoral neck (MBend), torsional moment around the femoral neck axis (MTne), and medial force ratio (MFR) in the knee, were measured during breaststroke swimming at 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 m/s and the breaststroke and crawl kicks at 0.5 and 1.0 m/s. Results: The ranges of the median maximal FRes were 157% to 193% of body weight for the hip and 93% to 145% of body weight for the knee during breaststroke swimming. Greater maxima of FRes (hip and knee), MTors (hip and knee), MBend (hip), and MTne (hip) were observed with higher breaststroke swimming velocities, but significance was only identified between 0.5 and 0.6 m/s in FRes (p = 0.028), MTors (p = 0.028), and MBend (p = 0.028) and between 0.5 and 0.7 m/s in FRes (p = 0.045) in hips. No difference was found in maximal MFR between different breaststroke swimming velocities. The maximal FRes was significantly positively correlated with the breaststroke swimming velocity (hip: r = 0.541; p < 0.05; and knee: r = 0.414; p < 0.001). The maximal FRes (hip and knee) and moments (hip) were higher in the crawl kick than in the breaststroke kick, and a significant difference was recognized in FRes Max for the hip: median, 179% versus 118% of body weight (p = 0.028) for 0.5 m/s and 166% versus 133% of body weight (p = 0.028) for 1.0 m/s. Conclusions: Swimming is a safe and low-impact activity, particularly recommended for patients who undergo THA or TKA. Hip and knee joint loads are greater with higher swimming velocities and can be influenced by swimming styles. Nevertheless, concrete suggestions to patients who undergo arthroplasty on swimming should involve individual considerations. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background The medial knee contact force may be lowered by modified foot loading to prevent the progression of unilateral gonarthrosis but the real effects of such gait modifications are unknown. This study investigates how walking with a more medial or lateral rollover of the foot influences the in vivo measured knee contact forces. Methods Five subjects with telemeterized knee implants walked on a treadmill with pronounced lateral or medial foot loading. Acoustic feedback of peak foot pressure was used to facilitate the weight bearing shift. The resultant contact force, F res , the medial contact force, F med , and the force distribution F med /F res across the tibial plateau were computed from the measured joint contact loads. Findings During lateral foot loading, the two maxima of F res during the stance phase, Peak 1 and Peak 2, increased by an average of 20% and 12%, respectively. The force distribution was changed by only − 3%/+ 2%. As a result, F med increased by + 16%/+ 17%. Medial foot loading, on the other hand, changed F res only slightly, but decreased the distribution by − 18%/− 11%. This led to average reductions of F med by − 18%/− 18%. The reductions were realized by kinematic adaptations, such as increases of ankle eversion, step width and foot progression angle. Interpretation Medial foot loading consistently reduced the medial knee compartment, and may be a helpful gait modification for patients with pronounced medial gonarthrosis. The increase of F med during lateral foot loading was most likely caused by muscular co-contractions. Long-term training may lead to more efficient gait and reduce co-contractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Objective The external knee adduction moment (EAM) is often considered a surrogate measure of the distribution of loads across the tibiofemoral joint during walking. This study was undertaken to quantify the relationship between the EAM and directly measured medial tibiofemoral contact forces (Fmed) in a sample of subjects across a spectrum of activities. Methods The EAM for 9 patients who underwent total knee replacement was calculated using inverse dynamics analysis, while telemetric implants provided Fmed for multiple repetitions of 10 activities, including walking, stair negotiation, sit-to-stand activities, and squatting. The effects of the factors 'subject' and 'activity' on the relationships between Fmed and EAM were quantified using mixed-effects regression analyses in terms of the root mean square error (RMSE) and the slope of the regression. Results Across subjects and activities a good correlation between peak EAM and Fmed values was observed, with an overall R2 value of 0.88. However, the slope of the linear regressions varied between subjects by up to a factor of 2. At peak EAM and Fmed, the RMSE of the regression across all subjects was 35% body weight (%BW), while the maximum error was 127 %BW. Conclusion The relationship between EAM and Fmed is generally good but varies considerably across subjects and activities. These findings emphasize the limitation of relying solely on the EAM to infer medial joint loading when excessive directed cocontraction of muscles exists and call for further investigations into the soft tissue-related mechanisms that modulate the internal forces at the knee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Since footwear is commonly used every day, its influence on knee joint loading and thereby on the development and progression of osteoarthritis may be crucial. So far the influence of footwear has been examined only indirectly. The aim of this study was to directly measure the effect of footwear on tibiofemoral contact loads during walking. Instrumented knee implants with telemetric data transmission were used to measure the tibiofemoral contact forces and moments in six subjects. The loads during walking with four different shoes (basic running shoes, advanced running shoes, classical dress shoes and shoes with a soft rounded sole in the sagittal plane (MBT)) were compared to those during barefoot walking. Peak values of all six load components were analyzed. In general, footwear tended to increase knee joint loading slightly, with the dress shoe being the most unfavorable type of footwear. At the early stance phase all load components were increased by all shoe types. The resultant force rose by 2-5%, the internal adduction moment by 7-12% and the forces on the medial compartment by 3-5%. Significant reductions of the resultant force were solely observed for the advanced running shoe (-6%) and the MBT (-9%) shoe at late stance. Also the medial compartment force was slightly yet non-significantly reduced by 2-5% with the two shoes. It is questionable whether such small load changes have an influence on the progression of gonarthrosis. Future research is necessary to examine which factors regarding the shoe design, such as heel height, arch support or flexibility are most decisive for a reduction of knee joint loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The patellofemoral (PF) joint plays an essential role in knee function, but little is known about the in vivo loading conditions at the joint. We hypothesized that the forces at the PF joint exceed the tibiofemoral (TF) forces during activities with high knee flexion. Motion analysis was performed in two patients with telemetric knee implants during walking, stair climbing, sit-to-stand, and squat. TF and PF forces were calculated using a musculoskeletal model, which was validated against the simultaneously measured in vivo TF forces, with mean errors of 10% and 21% for the two subjects. The in vivo peak TF forces of 2.9-3.4 bodyweight (BW) varied little across activities, while the peak PF forces showed significant variability, ranging from less than 1 BW during walking to more than 3 BW during high flexion activities, exceeding the TF forces. Together with previous in vivo measurements at the hip and knee, the PF forces determined here provide evidence that peak forces across these joints reach values of around 3 BW during high flexion activities, also suggesting that the in vivo loading conditions at the knee can only be fully understood if the forces at the TF and the PF joints are considered together. © 2011 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 30:408-415, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A conventional method to unload the medial compartment of patients with gonarthrosis and thus to achieve pain reduction is the use of laterally wedged shoes. Our aim was to measure in vivo their effect on medial compartment loads using instrumented knee implants. Medial tibio-femoral contact forces were measured in six subjects with instrumented knee implants during walking with the following shoes: without wedge, with 5 and 10 mm wedges under the lateral sole, and with a laterally wedged insole (5 mm). Measurements were repeated with the shoes in combination with an ankle-stabilizing orthosis. Without orthosis, peak medial forces were reduced by only 1-4% on average. With orthosis, the average reduction was 2-7%. Highest reductions were generally observed with the 10 mm wedge, followed by the 5 mm wedge, and the 5 mm insole. Individual force reductions reached up to 15%. Medial force reductions while walking with wedged shoes were generally small. Due to high inter-individual differences, it seems that some patients might benefit from lateral wedges, whereas others might not. Further analyses of the individual kinematics will show which factors are most decisive for the reduction of medial compartment load. © 2011 Orthopaedic Research Society Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 29:1910-1915, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abstract: Background: Detailed information about the loading of the knee joint is required for various investigations in total knee replacement. Up to now, gait analysis plus analytical musculo-skeletal models were used to calculate the forces and moments acting in the knee joint. Currently, all experimental and numerical pre-clinical tests rely on these indirect measurements which have limitations. The validation of these methods requires in vivo data; therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide in vivo loading data of the knee joint. Methods: A custom-made telemetric tibial tray was used to measure the three forces and three moments acting in the implant. This prosthesis was implanted into two subjects and measurements were obtained for a follow-up of 6 and 10months, respectively. Subjects performed level walking and going up and down stairs using a self-selected comfortable speed. The subjects’ activities were captured simultaneously with the load data on a digital video tape. Customized software enabled the display of all information in one video sequence. Findings: The highest mean values of the peak load components from the two subjects were as follows: during level walking the forces were 276%BW (percent body weight) in axial direction, 21%BW (medio-lateral), and 29%BW (antero-posterior). The moments were 1.8%BW*m in the sagittal plane, 4.3%BW*m (frontal plane) and 1.0%BW*m (transversal plane). During stair climbing the axial force increased to 306%BW, while the shear forces changed only slightly. The sagittal plane moment increased to 2.4%BW*m, while the frontal and transversal plane moments decreased slightly. Stair descending produced the highest forces of 352%BW (axial), 35%BW (medio-lateral), and 36%BW (antero-posterior). The sagittal and frontal plane moments increased to 2.8%BW*m and 4.6%BW*m, respectively, while the transversal plane moment changed only slightly. Interpretation: Using the data obtained, mechanical simulators can be programmed according to realistic load profiles. Furthermore, musculo-skeletal models can be validated, which until now often lacked the ability to predict properly the non-sagittal load values, e.g. varus–valgus and internal–external moments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier] more...

Knowledge of both tibio-femoral kinematics and kinetics is necessary for fully understanding knee joint biomechanics, guiding implant design and testing, and driving and validating computational models. In 2017, the CAMS-Knee datasets were presented, containing synchronized in vivo implant kinematics measured using a moving fluoroscope and tibio-femoral contact loads measured using instrumented implants from six subjects. However, to date, no representative summary of kinematics and kinetics obtained from measurements at the joint level of the same cohort of subjects exists. In this study, we present the CAMS-Knee standardized subject "Stan", whose reference data include tibio-femoral kinematics and loading scenarios from all six subjects for level and downhill walking, stair descent, squat and sit-to-stand-to-sit. Using the peak-preserving averaging method by Bergmann and co-workers, we derived scenarios for generally high (CAMS-HIGH100), peak, and extreme loading. The CAMS-HIGH100 axial forces reached peaks between 3022 and 3856 N (3.08–3.93 body weight) for the five investigated activities. Anterior-posterior forces were about a factor of ten lower. The axial moment around the tibia was highest for level walking and squatting with peaks of 9.4 Nm and 10.5 Nm acting externally. Internal tibial rotations of up to 8.4° were observed during squat and sitting, while the walking activities showed approximately half the internal rotation. The CAMS-HIGH100 loads were comparable to Bergmann and co-workers', but have the additional benefit of synchronized kinematics. Stan's loads are +11 to +56% higher than the ISO 14243 wear testing standard loads, while the kinematics exhibit markedly different curve shapes. Along with the original CAMS-Knee datasets, Stan's data can be requested at cams-knee.orthoload.com. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...