SCR: a method for remote measurements of ligament structure

Essential for mechanical analyses of ligaments and tendons is a quantitative description of the collagen structure. The present paper introduces a non-destructive and remote method to determine the geometry and the superficial fiber orientation of ligaments and tendons. The method is called SCR (Stereophotogrammetric Curve Reconstruction) and uses principles of traditional photogrammetry. The development of SCR for ligaments and tendons is based on the observation, that ligaments consist of individual fibers, with an almost parallel course between the insertions. The method itself and its application to ligaments are discussed here. The pilot study showed that SCR can be an effective, non-destructive tool to measure ligament-fiber orientation, which has not been possible as yet with any other method. [1 Ref; In English

Kinematic behavior of the human wrist joint : a roentgen-stereophotogrammetric analysis

Using a roentgen-stereophotogrammetric measurement system, the three-dimensional kinematic characteristics of each carpal bone in two human wrist joints were obtained as the hands were moved in vitro through dorsopalmar flexion and through radioulnar deviation, both in the supinated and pronated positions of the hand. The results were described in terms of Euler rotation angles and showed that in flexion, the distal carpal bones may be considered as one fixed group while the proximal carpals may not. For the deviation motion, quite different rotational excursions for the carpal bones were observed, therefore, none of the two rows may be assumed acting as rigid groups. In both of the hand motions performed, all carpal bones moved synchronously and uniformly. These results demonstrate that accurate measurements of three-dimensional carpal-bone motions are feasible by using an adequately refined roentgen-stereophotogrammetric system. The detailed and precise kinematic information obtained can serve as a database for future developments of functional wrist-joint models, and will provide more insight into carpal-bone behavior, useful in clinical diagnosis and surgical reconstruction procedures

Effects of data smoothing on the reconstruction of helical axis parameters in human joint kinematics

In biomechanical joint-motion analyses, the continuous motion to be studied is often approximated by a sequence of finite displacements, and the Finite Helical Axis {FHA) or screw axis for each displacement is estimated from position measurements on a number of anatomical or artificial landmarks. When FHA parameters are directly determined from raw (noisy) displacement data, both the position and the direction of the FHA are ill-determined, in particular when the sequential displacement steps are small. This implies, that under certain conditions, the continuous pathways of joint motions cannot be adequately described. The purpose of the present experimental study is to investigate the applicability of smoothing (or filtering) techniques, in those cases where FHA parameters are ill-determined. Two different quintic-spline smoothing methods were used to analyze the motion data obtained with Roentgenstereophotogrammetry in two experiments. One concerning carpal motions in a wrist-joint specimen, and one relative to a kinematic laboratory model, in which the axis positions are a priori known. The smoothed and nonsmoothed FHA parameter errors were compared. The influences of the number of samples and the size of the sampling interval (displacement step) were investigated, as were the effects of equidistant and nonequidistant sampling conditions and noise invariance

Three-dimensional displacement of the hip joint after triple pelvic osteotomy. A postmortem radiostereometric study

Triple pelvic osteotomy reorients the acetabulum relative to the pelvis in order to improve acetabular coverage of the femoral head in cases of acetabular dysplasia. We undertook a radiostereometric analysis (RSA) on 6 osteotomized cadaver hips to determine the actual three-dimensional reorientation obtained. The centers of the femoral head were all translated posteriorly between 11 and 41 mm, and distally up to 13 mm. 4 were lateralized up to 8 mm, and 2 were medialized up to 5 mm. All acetabuli rotated anteriorly about the lateral to medial axis (X-axis), and 4 rotated outwards around the distal to proximal axis (Y-axis). The correlations between measurements performed on conventional anteroposterior radiographs and the RSA measurements were poor: variations in the lateral-medial direction ranged from -16 to +6 mm, and in the distal-proximal direction between -10 and +12 mm. The changes in orientations measured will significantly affect the load across the hip joint, since the dimensions of the pelvis change and the moment arms of the muscles, their lengths and lines of action are changed as well. We conclude that, with the procedures presently performed, the loads across the hip joint are bound to change, and that the reorientation can hardly be checked with conventional radiographs. [Journal Article; In English; Norway