Sports Injury Modeling of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament Based on the Intelligent Finite Element Algorithm

Abstract

In order to solve the problem of sports injury modeling of the anterior cruciate ligament, a method based on the intelligent finite element algorithm is proposed. Considering the transverse isotropy of the ligament, this paper constructs a 3D finite element model of the knee joint based on medical image data. The same ligament constitutive equation was used to fit the parameters of stress-strain mechanical experimental curves of three different anterior cruciate ligaments, and the effects of different anterior cruciate ligament mechanical parameters on kinematics and biomechanical properties of the knee joint were compared. The experimental results show that, in models 1, 2, and 3, the maximum stress values appear in the posterolateral of the femoral attachment area of the ligament, which are 16.24 MPa, 16.36 MPa, and 22.05 MPa, respectively. However, the stress values at the tibial attachment area are 9.80, 13.8, and 13.93 MPa, respectively, and the stress values at the anterolateral part of the middle ligament are 6.36, 11.89, and 12.26 MPa, respectively, which are all smaller than those at the femoral attachment area, which also quantitatively explains the clinical phenomenon that ACL fracture often occurs in the femoral attachment area in practice. Thus, the three-dimensional finite element model of the knee joint highly simulates the structure and material properties of the knee joint. This method proves that the intelligent finite element algorithm can effectively solve the modeling problem of sports injury of the anterior cruciate ligament.