Dynamic Response Analyses of Rabbit Knee Joint

The knee joint is a complex nonlinear dynamic system. It is generally known that mechanical factors play an important role in the etiology of knee injuries and diseases such as osteoarthritis. While performing daily activities such as walking, running, and climbing as well as during occupational operations, the joint is exposed to vibrations and multiple impacts. During these activities, according to an individual’s condition (e.g., age, fitness, weight), the joint load and stiffness may reach critical limits initiating or accelerating different knee disorders. This is the case in athletes or workers during occupational activities (1). Therefore, understanding the dynamic characteristics of the knee joint is essential in prediction and prevention of knee disorders as well as in subsequent joint replacement and rehabilitation procedures. There have been very few reported experimental studies investigating the dynamic behavior of the whole knee joint as a dynamic system (2). The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in mechanical properties of the rabbit knee joint under different compressive dynamic loading conditions. Rabbit has frequently been used as an osteoarthritic knee model (3). The data obtained in this study, hence, will also be beneficial in our future studies of osteoarthritic rabbit models.