KneeSim - Muscosceletal Simulation of Knee Biomechanics During Functional Tasks

Project duration: 01.08.2024 - 30.06.2026

Degenerative diseases of the musculoskeletal system such as knee osteoarthritis are on the rise worldwide. In 2020, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in adults over the age of 40 was between 19.8% and 26.1%. In Austria, around 10.5% of men and 18.3% of women over the age of 45 are diagnosed with osteoarthritis. In addition, 202 people per 100,000 inhabitants received a total knee arthroplasty in 2019, making Austria one of the countries with the highest prevalence of this type of surgery. Risk factors for these conditions include a sedentary lifestyle, obesity and poor motor control. Osteoarthritis significantly impairs activities of daily living such as walking, climbing stairs and standing up and often leads to a sedentary lifestyle.

Simulation rendering of single leg squat down cycle

For this reason, in the SETT project we are creating a reference database on leg biomechanics for various everyday tasks and physical exercises. Knee biomechanics is of critical importance as it relates to patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint loading, which is associated with patellofemoral pain and knee osteoarthritis. Research has identified several biomechanical factors that predispose people to patellofemoral and knee osteoarthritis, including valgus knee (knock knees), lower leg/thigh rotation, hip adduction and gluteus medius muscle activity. Understanding these factors is crucial for stabilizing the knee and reducing joint contact forces. KneeSim now aims to use musculoskeletal simulation in OpenSim to provide insight into the internal processes of the musculoskeletal system in order to identify movements with high loads.

Research objectives

This research project aims to transfer the results of musculoskeletal simulation to practical biofeedback therapy to enable early detection, prevention and intervention of knee pathologies. The individual research objectives are:

Development of a musculoskeletal simulation procedure for the calculation of patellofemoral and tibiofemoral contact forces of the knee joint.
Identification of movement types in functional exercises and activities of daily living and their relationship to joint loading.
Creation of statistical or machine AI models to predict joint contact forces based on visually detectable kinematic data.
Testing real-time biofeedback on joint loading in order to induce movement adaptations in healthy adults during functional exercise and activities of daily living.