Normal six-degree-of-freedom motions of knee joint during level walking

The purpose of this study was to find an effective way for in vivo measurement of joint motion and give the normal knee motion according to this method. The joint model proposed by Grood and Suntay (1983) was chosen; the origin of the tibia was modified for the convenience of in vivo test. A computerized 6 degree-of-freedom electrogoniometer (EGM) was used in the measurement. Repeated tests on one subject were performed to establish the reliability of the method. Knee motions obtained from 42 males during level walking were expressed as flexion-extension, abduction-adduction, external-internal rotation, lateral-medial translation, anterior-posterior translation, and superior-inferior translation. The results showed that, with the proper choice of the origin of the tibia, the EGM could depend much less on external landmarks and be more effective for the joint measurement.