The biomechanical relationship between the articular cartilage defect and knee osteoarthritis (OA) has not been clearly defined. This study presents a 3D knee finite element model (FEM) to determine the effect of cartilage defects on the stress distribution around the defect rim. The complete knee FEM, which includes bones, articular cartilages, menisci and ligaments, is developed from computed tomography and magnetic resonance images. This FEM then is validated and used to simulate femoral cartilage defects. Based on the obtained results, it is confirmed that the 3D knee FEM is reconstructed with high-fidelity level and can faithfully predict the knee contact behavior. Cartilage defects drastically affect the stress distribution on articular cartilages. When the defect size was smaller than 1.00 cm², the stress elevation and redistribution were found undistinguishable. However, significant stress elevation and redistribution were detected due to the large defect sizes (⩾1.00 cm²). This alteration of stress distribution has important implications relating to the progression of cartilage defect to OA in the human knee joint.

中文翻译：

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特定对象的膝关节有限元模型的精确3D重建以模拟关节软骨缺损

关节软骨缺损与膝骨关节炎（OA）之间的生物力学关系尚未明确定义。这项研究提出了一个3D膝关节有限元模型（FEM），以确定软骨缺损对缺损边缘周围应力分布的影响。包括骨骼，关节软骨，半月板和韧带在内的完整膝关节有限元分析是通过计算机断层扫描和磁共振图像开发出来的。然后验证该有限元并用于模拟股骨软骨缺损。根据获得的结果，可以确认以高保真度重建了3D膝盖FEM，并且可以忠实地预测膝盖的接触行为。软骨缺陷极大地影响了关节软骨上的应力分布。缺陷尺寸小于1.00 cm ^2时，应力升高和重新分布没有区别。然而，由于较大的缺陷尺寸（⩾1.00cm ²），检测到了明显的应力升高和重新分布。应力分布的这种变化具有重要的意义，与人类膝关节中软骨缺损向OA的进展有关。