Biomechanical evaluation of a bioactive artificial anterior cruciate ligament

Sandra Guerard (1) , Mathieu Manaserro (2) , Véronique Viateau (3) , Véronique Migonney (4) , Wafa Skalli (1) , David Mitton (5)

1 I2M - Institut de Mécanique et d'Ingénierie de Bordeaux
2 BPLC - Biomécanique et Pathologie Locomotrice du Cheval
3 ENVA - École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort
4 CSPBAT - Chimie, Structures et Propriétés de Biomatériaux et d'Agents Thérapeutiques
5 LBMC UMR T9406 - Laboratoire de Biomécanique et Mécanique des Chocs

This study aimed to assess the biomechanical performance of a new generation of artificial ligament, which can be considered “bioactive” and “biointegrated,” implanted in sheep. Thirty sheep were implanted: 15 sheep received the artificial ligament grafted with a bioactive polymer (grafted) and 15 received the artificial ligament without a bioactive polymer (non-grafted). The animals were sacrificed 3 or 12 months after implantation. The knee kinematics, namely flexion-extension, anterior drawer, and varusvalgus tests, were evaluated using a fully characterized custom-made device. Afterward, the specimens were tested under uniaxial tension until failure. The flexion-extension showed significant differences between (grafted or non-grafted) artificial and native ligaments 3 months after implantation. This difference became non-significant 12 months postoperatively. The anterior tibial drawer was significantly increased 3 months after implantation and remained significantly different only for non-grafted ligament 12 months after implantation. Twelve months after implantation, the differences between grafted and non-grafted ligament biomechanical properties were significant in terms of stiffness. In terms of load to failure, grafted ligaments seem to have had slightly better performance than non-grafted ligaments 12 months postoperatively. Overall these results suggest that grafted artificial ligaments have slightly better biomechanical characteristics than non-grafted artificial ligaments 12 months after implantation in sheep.

Mots clés: in vivo integration; biomechanics; ACL reconstruction; in vitro experiments

Domaines: Biomécanique [physics.med-ph]

Sandra Guerard, Mathieu Manaserro, Véronique Viateau, Véronique Migonney, Wafa Skalli, et al.. Biomechanical evaluation of a bioactive artificial anterior cruciate ligament. Advances in Biomechanics and Applications, 2014, 1 (4), pp.239-252. ⟨10.12989/aba.2014.1.4.239⟩. ⟨hal-01164007⟩