Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Design And Validation Of A General Purpose Robotic Testing System For Musculoskeletal Applications, Lawrence D. Noble, Robb W. Colbrunn, Dong-Gil Lee, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Brian L. Davis

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Orthopaedic research on in vitro forces applied to bones, tendons, and ligaments during joint loading has been difficult to perform because of limitations with existing robotic simulators in applying full-physiological loading to the joint under investigation in real time. The objectives of the current work are as follows: (1) describe the design of a musculoskeletal simulator developed to support in vitro testing of cadaveric joint systems, (2) provide component and system-level validation results, and (3) demonstrate the simulator’s usefulness for specific applications of the foot-ankle complex and knee. The musculoskeletal simulator allows researchers to simulate a variety of loading conditions …