Challenge of normality evaluation by using micro-size tension measurement device in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the important ligaments in the knee. The ACL connects the femur and tibia, and has a role to prevent an excessive forward movement of the tibia. In the clinical sports medicine, ACL reconstruction is often preformed about the injured knee. The ACL reconstruction aims to recover the function of the knee. Although some studies have reported tension pattern of the reconstructed knee during knee bending, no reports have reported an evaluation method of a normal tension pattern. This study challenges to define the normality of the normal knee in considering with the tension pattern. The experiment used an imitation bone with imitation ligaments for measuring the tension pattern by using our developed micro-measurement system, and evaluated the normality of the tension pattern. A future work is to apply this evaluation to cadaver knees.