Preclinical computational models: predictors of tibial insert damage patterns in total knee arthroplasty: AAOS exhibit selection.

Computational models that predict clinical surface damage of the tibial insert during activities of daily living are emerging as powerful tools to assess the safety and efficacy of contemporary total knee arthroplasty designs. These models have the advantage of quickly determining the performance of new designs at low cost, and they allow direct comparison with the performance of classic, clinically successful designs. This study validated finite element and kinematic modeling predictions through comparison with preclinical physical testing results, damage patterns on retrieved tibial inserts, and clinically measured knee motion.

Surface stress: a factor influencing ultra high molecular weight polyethylene durability in mobile-bearing knee design.

The continuing global interest in the use of total and unicompartmental mobile-bearing knee designs is manifest by an appreciation of their clinical performance. Like their fixed plateau counterparts, mobile-bearing knees are influenced by patient and surgical variables as well as design, material, and manufacturing choices. This article is a focused description of tibiofemoral surface stress distributions, as a predictor of in vivo material durability for three contemporary designs at positions encountered during daily activity.

The effects of external torque on polyethylene tibial insert damage patterns.

The forces and torques that occur during walking gait, particularly during toe-off, promote articulation in the posteromedial quadrant of tibial inserts. Retrieved components of failed knee arthroplasties show ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene damage patterns in this region. Component-designed constraint, compromised polymer, and surgical factors account for these observations.