Date of Award

Summer 8-23-2025

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Organizational Unit

Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, Mechanical and Materials Engineering

First Advisor

Casey A. Myers

Second Advisor

Chadd W. Clary

Third Advisor

Mohammad Mahoor

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

All Rights Reserved
All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Compartmental loading, High-speed stereo radiography, Musculoskeletal modeling, Obesity, Osteoarthritis, Tibiofemoral

Abstract

Obesity has been consistently linked to knee osteoarthritis (KOA), a debilitating joint disease. While prior work has shown that obese individuals often walk with altered biomechanics compared to normal-weight (NW) individuals, which may accelerate KOA progression, less is known about how these mechanics affect load distribution between the medial and lateral tibiofemoral (TF) compartments, particularly during higher-demand activities. This study developed subject-specific musculoskeletal models of five obese and five NW individuals, incorporating CT-based bone measurements and individualized joint contact points. Simulations were driven by six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) kinematics obtained from high-speed stereo radiography (HSSR) to predict TF loading and associated joint mechanics during gait, pivot, step-down, step-up, and lunge. Obese individuals exhibited higher normalized peak medial TF forces in lower flexion activities (e.g., +27% in step-down and +10% in pivot), whereas the NW group demonstrated greater normalized peak lateral compartment loading across all activities (e.g., +65% in step-up and +62% in lunge). Obese individuals also had significantly higher unnormalized medial compartment loads in gait, pivot, and step-down. This work emphasized the importance of subject-specific kinematics in predicting joint reaction forces and demonstrated that movement compensations in obesity lead to a medial shift in TF loading. Quantifying such measures may ultimately inform future implant design and treatment strategies for this historically underserved population.

Copyright Date

8-2025

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Ryan C. Knowles

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

199 pgs

File Size

12.6 MB

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