Biomedical subjects

B Falcioni

Publications and source records attributed to B Falcioni.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2002

Comparison of three kinematic analyses of the knee: determination of intrinsic features and applicability to intraoperative procedures.

The evaluation of knee motion is an important step for correct diagnoses and optimal surgical reconstructions, but controversial opinions still remain about the most suitable numerical method for the elaboration of clinical kinematic tests. In this paper, we present a comparison of three methods applied to an experimental animal study (Grood and Suntay method [Grood, E.S. and Suntay, W.J. (1983) "A coordinate system for the clinical description of three-dimensional motions: application to the knee", J. Biomech. Engng, 105, pp. 136-144], Helical Axes method [Blankevoort, L., Huiskes, R. and de Lange, A. (1990). "Helical axes of passive knee joint motions", J. Biomech., 23 pp. 1219-1229] and Functional method [Martelli, S., Zaffagnini, S., Falcioni, B. and Marcacci, M. (2000). "Intraoperative kinematic protocol for knee joint evaluation", Comput. Methods Programs Biomed., 62 pp. 77-86]). The study shows the numerical differences among the three protocols and evaluates their performances and repeatability during clinical tests, i.e. laxity measurements and passive range of motion. The Functional method gives the optimal compromise among accuracy, clinical interpretability and ease of use for intraoperative kinematic evaluations.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Determination of an optimal kinematic protocol for computer-assisted evaluation of anterior cruciate ligament deficiency.

The recent development of computer-assisted techniques for surgery, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in particular, provides new ways of improving intraoperative kinematic evaluation and final functional outcome. In this paper we have tried to identify the optimal protocol for ACL evaluation, which can fully exploit the novel capability of electronic sensors and computer elaboration. In this work we statistically compared the main clinical tests that are used for knee evaluation and three different numerical methods for kinematic analysis. Results showed that only passive tests that investigate rotational and anteroposterior stability could discriminate ACL status and that the most effective protocol for computerized evaluation should be based on the Lachman and Drawer test, and forced internal-external rotations at full extension for pigs and 60 degrees, elaborated with the functional method (Martelli et al. Comput. Methods Programs Biomed. 62:77-86, 2000).

Algorithms↗

PubMed2000

Intraoperative kinematic protocol for knee joint evaluation.

Although knee kinematics has been investigated widely, no standard, objective evaluation of the kinematics behaviour of the joint is used at present during surgical treatment. We propose a kinematic protocol for a manual intraoperative evaluation of the knee behaviour, with which the range of motion, the 'screw-home' mechanism and knee instabilities could be quantified. The method does not require anatomical landmarks, because it is computed from standard tests used in clinical practice and gives a decomposition of the knee movement comparable to the well known Grood and Suntay analysis [E.S. Grood, W.J. Suntay, A joint coordinate system for the clinical description of three-dimensional motions: application to the knee, J. Biomech. Eng. 105 (1983) 136-144]. We describe the protocol, report the evaluation of its numerical features and provide a comparison with Grood and Suntay method on ten porcine knees.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Rotational laxity after anterior cruciate ligament injury by kinematic evaluation of clinical tests.

Despite the numerous studies on anterior cruciate ligament biomechanics and clinical tests, some disagreements still exist in the literature on the role of ACL in restraining rotations and which kinematic test after ACL injuries is the most suitable to evaluate this instability. This work analyses the capability of passive clinical and stress tests to detect an ACL state quantifying rotational instability. The study was conducted on animal knees with a new protocol. We found that an internal-external stress test can give a useful indication on the ACL state when used to estimate the side to side differences while varus-valgus laxity and secondary motions in standard kinematic tests did not seem to be affected by ACL injury. The kinematic protocol performed could be used intra-operatively to quantify rotations, allowing a more accurate evaluation of knee instability to guide surgical reconstruction and improve its final outcome.

Animals↗