Abstract
The goal of this research work was to introduce the whole process of developing and validating a 3D lower extremity musculoskeletal model and to test the ability of the model to predict the muscles recruitment of the different muscles involved in human locomotion as well as determining the corresponding forces and moments generated around the different joints in the lower extremity. Therefore the model can be applied in one of the important fields of orthopaedics which is joint replacement; the case study used in such application is the total knee replacement. The knee reaction forces were compared to the pattern obtained by Harrington (1992), where the hip moment components (Flexion/extension, internal/external, and abduction/adduction) were all compared to the patterns obtained from the Hip98 data base. It was shown in the different graphs of joints forces and moments that the model was able to produce very close results when comparing pattern and magnitude to the literature data. Thus, this 3D biomechanical model is sophisticated enough to be used for surgery evaluation such as in total knee replacement, where the damaged cartilage and bone are removed from the surface of the knee joint and replaced with a man-made. The case study of the second part of the research work presented involved the comparison of the gait pattern between two main knee joint types, Metallic and Allograft knee joints against normal subjects (Control group). A total of fifteen subjects participated in this study, five subjects in each group. It was concluded that based on the study conducted and the statistical evidence obtained that the introduced model can be used for applications that involves joint surgeries such as knee replacement that ultimately can be utilized in surgery evaluation.