Patellofemoral Joint Contact Area Quantified In Vivo During Daily Activities

Abstract

In vivo measurements of patellofemoral joint contact area are scarce. Patellofemoral contact area has been measured in living people under static conditions with the knee held at fixed angles between 0 and 60° of flexion. No previous study to our knowledge has measured patellofemoral contact area in vivo during dynamic activity. The aim of this study was to measure and compare patellofemoral joint contact area in healthy people across a range of daily activities. Mobile biplane X-ray imaging was used to measure 3D tibiofemoral and patellofemoral kinematics in level walking, downhill walking, stair ascent, stair descent, and open-chain (non-weightbearing) knee flexion and knee extension. The ..