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Koller W, Wallnöfer E, Holder J, Kranzl A, Mindler G, Baca A, Kainz H. Increased knee flexion in participants with cerebral palsy results in altered stresses at the distal femoral growth plate compared to a typically developing cohort. Gait Posture 2024; 113:158-166. [PMID: 38905850 DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2024.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Femoral deformities are highly prevalent in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and can have a severe impact on patients' gait abilities. While the mechanical stress regime within the distal femoral growth plate remains underexplored, understanding it is crucial given bone's adaptive response to mechanical stimuli. We quantified stresses at the distal femoral growth plate to deepen our understanding of the relationship between healthy and pathological gait patterns, internal loading, and femoral growth patterns. METHODS This study included three-dimensional motion capture data and magnetic resonance images of 13 typically developing children and twelve participants with cerebral palsy. Employing a multi-scale mechanobiological approach, integrating musculoskeletal simulations and subject-specific finite element analysis, we investigated the orientation of the distal femoral growth plate and the stresses within it. Limbs of participants with CP were grouped depending on their knee flexion kinematics during stance phase as this potentially changes the stresses induced by knee and patellofemoral joint contact forces. RESULTS Despite similar growth plate orientation across groups, significant differences were observed in the shape and distribution of growth values. Higher growth rates were noted in the anterior compartment in CP limbs with high knee flexion while CP limbs with normal knee flexion showed high similarity to the group of healthy participants. DISCUSSION Results indicate that the knee flexion angle during the stance phase is of high relevance for typical bone growth at the distal femur. The evaluated growth rates reveal plausible results, as long-term promoted growth in the anterior compartment leads to anterior bending of the femur which was confirmed for the group with high knee flexion through analyses of the femoral geometry. The framework for these multi-scale simulations has been made accessible on GitHub, empowering peers to conduct similar mechanobiological studies. Advancing our understanding of femoral bone development could ultimately support clinical decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Willi Koller
- Department of Sport and Human Movement Science, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Vienna Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Elias Wallnöfer
- Department of Sport and Human Movement Science, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jana Holder
- Department of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Andreas Kranzl
- Laboratory for Gait and Human Movements, Orthopaedic Hospital Speising, Vienna, Austria; Vienna Bone and Growth Center, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriel Mindler
- Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics, Orthopaedic Hospital Speising, Vienna, Austria; Vienna Bone and Growth Center, Vienna, Austria
| | - Arnold Baca
- Department of Sport and Human Movement Science, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hans Kainz
- Department of Sport and Human Movement Science, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Kainz H, Koller W, Wallnöfer E, Bader TR, Mindler GT, Kranzl A. A framework based on subject-specific musculoskeletal models and Monte Carlo simulations to personalize muscle coordination retraining. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3567. [PMID: 38347085 PMCID: PMC10861532 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53857-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Excessive loads at lower limb joints can lead to pain and degenerative diseases. Altering joint loads with muscle coordination retraining might help to treat or prevent clinical symptoms in a non-invasive way. Knowing how much muscle coordination retraining can reduce joint loads and which muscles have the biggest impact on joint loads is crucial for personalized gait retraining. We introduced a simulation framework to quantify the potential of muscle coordination retraining to reduce joint loads for an individuum. Furthermore, the proposed framework enables to pinpoint muscles, which alterations have the highest likelihood to reduce joint loads. Simulations were performed based on three-dimensional motion capture data of five healthy adolescents (femoral torsion 10°-29°, tibial torsion 19°-38°) and five patients with idiopathic torsional deformities at the femur and/or tibia (femoral torsion 18°-52°, tibial torsion 3°-50°). For each participant, a musculoskeletal model was modified to match the femoral and tibial geometry obtained from magnetic resonance images. Each participant's model and the corresponding motion capture data were used as input for a Monte Carlo analysis to investigate how different muscle coordination strategies influence joint loads. OpenSim was used to run 10,000 simulations for each participant. Root-mean-square of muscle forces and peak joint contact forces were compared between simulations. Depending on the participant, altering muscle coordination led to a maximum reduction in hip, knee, patellofemoral and ankle joint loads between 5 and 18%, 4% and 45%, 16% and 36%, and 2% and 6%, respectively. In some but not all participants reducing joint loads at one joint increased joint loads at other joints. The required alteration in muscle forces to achieve a reduction in joint loads showed a large variability between participants. The potential of muscle coordination retraining to reduce joint loads depends on the person's musculoskeletal geometry and gait pattern and therefore showed a large variability between participants, which highlights the usefulness and importance of the proposed framework to personalize gait retraining.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hans Kainz
- Department of Biomechanics, Kinesiology and Computer Science in Sport, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Auf der Schmelz 6a (USZ II), 1150, Vienna, Austria.
- Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Willi Koller
- Department of Biomechanics, Kinesiology and Computer Science in Sport, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Auf der Schmelz 6a (USZ II), 1150, Vienna, Austria
- Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Elias Wallnöfer
- Department of Biomechanics, Kinesiology and Computer Science in Sport, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Auf der Schmelz 6a (USZ II), 1150, Vienna, Austria
- Neuromechanics Research Group, Centre for Sport Science and University Sports, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Doctoral School of Pharmaceutical, Nutritional and Sport Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Till R Bader
- Department of Radiology, Orthopaedic Hospital Speising, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gabriel T Mindler
- Department of Paediatric Orthopaedics and Foot Surgery, Orthopaedic Hospital Speising, Vienna, Austria
- Vienna Bone and Growth Center, Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Kranzl
- Vienna Bone and Growth Center, Vienna, Austria
- Laboratory for Gait and Movement Analysis, Orthopaedic Hospital Speising, Vienna, Austria
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