Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
9-30-1990
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Biomedical Engineering Committee
First Advisor
Mark Zimmerman
Second Advisor
J. Russell Parsons
Third Advisor
Clarence W. Mayott
Fourth Advisor
David S. Kristol
Abstract
The knee joint is the largest and one of the most complex joints in the human body. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the major intra-articular ligaments responsible for controlling and guiding the knee through most of its range of motion and its rupture alters normal joint mechanics.
One objective of this thesis was to determine if two autogenous tissue ACL reconstruction methods were biomechanically equivalent. The first method using the central one-third of the patellar tendon has been used clinically since the early 1960s. The second method utilizes portions of both the semitendinosus and the iliotibial band. The reconstructions were performed on human cadaver knees. The whole knee was mounted on a mechanical testing machine with the knee flexed at 90? and a simulation of a clinical anterior drawer test performed to a force of 90 N while the ACL was intact, after it was severed, and once again after the ACL was reconstructed. Measuring anterior deflection and stiffness parameters, the reconstructions were found to be equivalent in returning the knee to pre-injury stability.
When an autogenous reconstruction material does not supply adequate strength or if the original reconstruction has failed, a synthetic material may be needed for reinforcement. A second objective of this thesis was to determine the mechanical strength and histological response to two synthetic scaffold materials. The first material was a highly oriented polyethylene non-resorbable fiber. The second material was a resorbable copolymer of dimethyl trimethylene carbonate and trimethylene carbonate. Both fibers were implanted into a rabbit Achilles tendon defect model. Both fiber implants were found to be equivalent and similar to other successful scaffold materials in terms of biological response and strength of repairs. Both polymeric fibers elicited a somewhat greater inflammatory response than has been reported for carbon fiber when tested in the same animal model.
Recommended Citation
Daly, Anne Marie, "Ligament reconstruction : a biomechanical cadaveric test of autogenous repairs and the in vivo evaluation of synthetic scaffold materials" (1990). Theses. 2667.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/2667
