Toward an experimental method for evaluation of biomechanical joint behavior under high variable load conditions

The objectives of this work are the design of an experimental methodology for evaluation of the behavior of human or animal joints under physiological load conditions and the setup of robotic systems using force-torque control (FTC) to apply these realistic force-motion trajectories to cadaveric joints. In this context also the benefits of FTC for biomechanical research were aimed to show. Therefore, integrated methods using FTC have been developed for application of test series to diarthrodial joints. In the work reported here, these methods were successfully deployed to dissected porcine knee joints.