Purpose:
The goal of this paper is to investigate the use of virtual simulation tools, and in particular
virtual knee simulators. This kind of tools is mainly important for the design and development
of knee joint implants. In fact, achieving long-term clinical success after a total knee
replacement - TKR - surgery is dependent on a variety of patient and surgical factors, but it
can be directly influenced by implant component design.
Method:
A literature review has been done to search for the most important characteristics of virtual
knee simulators in reference to the mechanical ones used for in-vitro testing. A description of
of three kinds of virtual knee simulators was done: the KneeSIM, the Open Knee and the
Denver-Kansas computational Knee model.
Results and discussion:
An analysis of the characteristics of these three computational models was done in order to
understand which simulator is best suited for its immediate use, which is the most
customizable or which represents the most complete and reliable tool for knee implant
design.
Conclusion:
This paper has outlined a review of a particular category of simulation tools, the virtual knee
simulators. These tools are of great interest for orthopaedic product design and development.
Some of the knee computational models used in these simulators are also presented,
pointing out the main differences and characteristics of three of them: KneeSIM, Open Knee
and Denver-Kansas simulator.
