A NEW ROBOT-BASED SETUP FOR EXPLORING THE STIFFNESS OF ANATOMICAL JOINT STRUCTURES

Several authors tried to measure elastic aspects of human knee joints in vivo. A setup to measure the laxity of the collateral ligaments not at cadavers but at patients is used in [Moore]. Varus and valgus torques were applied to the knee joint and the displacement was measured. The problem when applying torques or measure displacement in vivo is the moving soft tissue between fixation of the measurement apparatus and the bones of the leg. Exact measurements can hardly be performed. Furthermore, no measurements of both the intact and injured knee joint at a single patient are possible. Thus, most groups use human cadaver knee joints for acquiring biomechanical data.