Development of a Tibial Slider to Evaluate and Validate a Finite Element Model for Friction in Total Knee Implants

More than 200,000 people in the United States annually undergo knee replacement as a means of diminishing pain and stiffness and restoring mobility, and the number is expected to increase with further advancements in joint replacement procedures [Duke, 1999]. Total knee replacement is performed on people with severe degenerative joint disorder such as osteoarthritis in which the articular surfaces of the knee deteriorate, leading to severe pain, limitation or loss of function and/or deformity of the joint.