Foot and ankle ligament morphometry

Mkandawire,Chimba<sup>1,2</sup>; Ledoux, William R.<sup>1,3,4</sup>; Sangeorzan, Bruce J.<sup>1,3</sup>; Ching, Randal P.<sup>1,3,4</sup>

Affiliations

¹Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Rehabilitation Research and Development Center of Excellence for Limb Loss Prevention and Prosthetic Engineering, Seattle, WA

²Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

³Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

⁴Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Abstract and keywords

This study primarily measured and established a morphometric spectrum of cross-sectional areas for foot and ankle ligaments with the use of a new freeze-fracture technique that was independent of ligament cross-sectional shape. Ligament morphometry measurements were made on a total of 121 bone-ligament-bone preparations that were harvested from 26 fresh (unembalmed) male cadaver feet. We used the traditional digital caliper method to measure length and the freeze-fracture technique to measure cross-sectional area. Cross-sectional area values ranged from 21.36 to 170.48 mm² and length values from 5.01 to 37.45 mm. In addition, area-to-length ratios ranged from 0.60 to 27.02 mm. Compared with the freeze-fracture technique, the digital caliper method, which assumed that ligament crosssectional shape was rectangular, resulted in an approximately 35% difference in cross-sectional area.

Keywords: ankle; area; biomechanics; cadaver; calipers; foot; freeze-fracture; ligaments; measurement; models

Links

DOI: 10.1682/JRRD.2004.08.0094

PubMed: 16680618

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Cited By (10)

Year	Entry
2012	Shin J, Yue N, Untaroiu CD. A finite element model of the foot and ankle for automotive impact applications. Ann Biomed Eng. December 2012;40(12):2519-2531.
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2012	Isvilanonda V, Dengler E, Iaquinto JM, Sangeorzan BJ, Ledoux WR. Finite element analysis of the foot: model validation and comparison between two common treatments of the clawed hallux deformity. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). October 2012;27(8):837-844.
2014	Forestiero A, Carniel EL, Natali AN. Biomechanical behaviour of ankle ligaments: constitutive formulation and numerical modelling. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Eng. March 12, 2014;17(4):395-404.
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2009	Tao K, Wang D, Wang C, Wang X, Liu A, Nester CJ, Howard D. An in vivo experimental validation of a computational model of human foot. J Bionic Eng. 2009;6(4):387-397.
2016	Grigoriadis G. Heel Biomechanics Under Blast Conditions [PhD thesis]. Imperial College London; June 2016.
2015	Smolen C. Evaluation of the Load Path Through the Foot/ankle Complex in Various Postures Through Cadaveric and Finite Element Model Testing [Master's thesis]. Hamilton, ON: McMaster University; September 2015.
2017	Campbell B. An Assessment of Hallux Valgus [PhD thesis]. University of Pittsburgh; 2017.
2008	Lewis GS. Computational Modeling of the Mechanics of Flatfoot Deformity and Its Surgical Corrections [PhD thesis]. State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University; December 2008.