Development of Prosthetic Knee Joint Testing Machine

Abstract

In human body Knee Joint is a joint that joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two articulations: one between the femur and tibia (tibia-femoral joint), and the other is between the femur and patella (patella-femoral joint). It is the largest joint in the human body. The knee is a modified hinge joint, which permits flexion and extension as well as slight internal and external rotation. In the current scenario knee joint injuries majorly including the degenerative changes of properties and wear of articular cartilage which lead to the total knee joint replacement. Although the increasing use of artificial Knee joint in field of biomechanics, it is very difficult to define the life of a prosthetic knee. So in this project, the kinematics and dynamics of human knee joint is studied for various gait patterns. Based on this study a mechanism is developed that provides the artificial knee joint motion as good as the actual knee joint in respect of kinematics and dynamics similarity. Through which the estimation of the life of an artificial knee joint can be done. Various conceptual models are prepared out of which the most feasible and optimal mechanism is selected. The mechanism has been synthesized and detail design has been carried out. The CAD model and FEA simulation has also been done. The finalized design is fabricated and the testing and experimentation has been carried out to estimate the life of artificial knee joint.