Proteoglycans play a role in the viscoelastic behaviour of the canine cranial cruciate ligament.

Proteoglycans (PGs) are minor extracellular matrix proteins, and their contributions to the mechanobiology of complex ligaments such as the cranial cruciate ligament (CCL) have not been determined to date. The CCLs are highly susceptible to injuries, and their extracellular matrix comprises higher PGs content than the other major knee ligaments. Hence these characteristics make CCLs an ideal specimen to use as a model in this study.

Ligament mechanics of ageing and osteoarthritic human knees.

Knee joint ligaments provide stability to the joint by preventing excessive movement. There has been no systematic effort to study the effect of OA and ageing on the mechanical properties of the four major human knee ligaments. This study aims to collate data on the material properties of the anterior (ACL) and posterior (PCL) cruciate ligaments, medial (MCL) and lateral (LCL) collateral ligaments.

Use and evaluation of assistive technologies for upper limb function in tetraplegia.

Context: More than half of all spinal cord injuries (SCI) occur at the cervical level leading to loss of upper limb function, restricted activity and reduced independence. Several technologies have been developed to assist with upper limb functions in the SCI population.

Objective: There is no clear clinical consensus on the effectiveness of the current assistive technologies for the cervical SCI population, hence this study reviews the literature in the years between 1999 and 2019.

Viscoelastic characteristics of the canine cranial cruciate ligament complex at slow strain rates.

Ligaments including the cruciate ligaments support and transfer loads between bones applied to the knee joint organ. The functions of these ligaments can get compromised due to changes to their viscoelastic material properties. Currently there are discrepancies in the literature on the viscoelastic characteristics of knee ligaments which are thought to be due to tissue variability and different testing protocols.

A full-field 3D digital image correlation and modelling technique to characterise anterior cruciate ligament mechanics ex vivo.

It is limiting to use conventional methods when characterising material properties of complex biological tissues with inhomogeneous and anisotropic structure, such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee joint. This study aims to develop and utilise a three-dimensional digital image correlation method (3D DIC) for the purpose of determining material properties of femur-ACL-tibia complex across the surface without any contact between the tissue and the loading equipment. A full-field (360° view) 3D DIC test setup consisting of six digital single-lens reflex cameras was developed and ACL specimens from skeletally mature dog knee joints were tested.