Uncertainty in Muscle–Tendon Parameters can Greatly Influence the Accuracy of Knee Contact Force Estimates of Musculoskeletal Models

Abstract

Understanding the sources of error is critical before models of the musculoskeletal system can be usefully translated. Using in vivo measured tibiofemoral forces, the impact of uncertainty in muscle–tendon parameters on the accuracy of knee contact force estimates of a generic musculoskeletal model was investigated following a probabilistic approach. Population variability was introduced to the routine musculoskeletal modeling framework by perturbing input parameters of the lower limb muscles around their baseline values. Using ground reaction force and skin marker trajectory data collected from six subjects performing body-weight squat, the knee contact force was calculated for the perturbed models. The combined impact of input uncertainties resulted in a considerable variation in the knee contact force estimates (up to 2.1 BW change in the predicted force), especially at larger knee flexion angles, hence explaining up to 70% of the simulation error. Although individual muscle groups exhibited different contributions to the overall error, variation in the maximum isometric force and pathway of the muscles showed the highest impacts on the model outcomes. Importantly, this study highlights parameters that should be personalized in order to achieve the best possible predictions when using generic musculoskeletal models for activities involving deep knee flexion.