Pseudo Elimination of Geometry Dependence in Surrogate Models of Distributed Knee Loads From an Explicit Dynamic Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

The premise of a total knee replacement (TKR) is to alleviate pain and increase joint mobility. The expected 20 year life span of the knee insert exceeds that of the standard patient given traditional wear and tear. With more active lifestyles, greater wear rates and shorter life spans are predicted for tibial inserts. Greater wear rates increase the probability that a patient will require additional surgery later in life. This research provides a knee loading model to estimate the pressure loading distribution through Finite Element Modeling (FEM). The publicly available patient data was used to eliminate the geometry dependence in a surrogate model of distributed knee loads from an explicit Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The developed method based upon FEM and FEA, produced two notable results. The secondary results showed the FEM accurately estimated the medial and lateral contact forces during the stance phase. However, the primary result was that the surrogate model successfully interpolated the contact surface forces using results from the FEA without requiring any knowledge of the geometry of the contact surfaces.