Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the vital ligaments in the knee that stabilizes the joint. It is also the most injured ligament besides the other 3 found in the knee. ACL is said to be injured when the ligament is stretched, partially torn or completely torn, the latter being the commonly occurring ones. Athletes are usually prone to ACL injury risking them to undergo surgical repair, often termed as 'reconstruction', which replaces the ligament from another part of the body. However, surgery becomes an option only in the extreme case. In an initial phase, it is recommended to undergo rehabilitation. One of such techniques to stabilize the joint is by using a knee brace.
The existing study has been successful in achieving certain aspects of developing the knee brace. The accomplishments are on studying the dynamics of joint and the role of ACL in controlling the motion of it. It was also successful in making the brace MRI compatible which also enables to study the effect of the brace in limiting the anterior translation of the tibia. The study, however, has been partly successful in achieving the knee dynamics completely. It has only been shown that the brace can achieve a limited range of knee flexion but not the complete achievable range. Apart from linear motion, it lacks the detail on rotational dynamics of the joint in the absence of ACL which is an important consideration.
The focus of this study would be to overcome the limitations on the range of flexion by designing for full range using soft actuation techniques. It is also aimed to study the rotational dynamics of the joint to know if there is a balanced loading of the femur on the underlying cartilage. By designing this, it not only improves the joint stability but also reduces the chances of developing osteoarthritis in a later stage which is very likely to occur for an ACL injured patient. Finally, studying the role of various muscles groups that guides these movements is also into consideration. It is therefore believed that these aspects can enhance the stability of the ACL ruptured joint if implemented.