Modelling the surface articulation of natural and artificial joints of the ankle

The kinematic characteristics and the passive mechanical properties of the ankle joint are determined primarily by the morphology of the articulating surfaces. Designing artificial surfaces for Total Ankle Replacement (TAR) that can effectively replace natural surfaces damaged by arthritis requires solid knowledge of the functional morphology of this joint. This presentation reports on a comprehensive image-based investigation of the functional morphology of the natural ankle and on artificial replacements used in TAR. In the study, the fundamental morphological properties of the natural joint sufraces of the ankle are identified and are produced in artificial joint replacements. They are then evaluated, both in-vitro and in -silico, against surface geometries used in current TAR systems.