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Biomechanical effects of typical lower limb movements of Chen-style Tai Chi on knee joint

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Abstract

The load and stress distribution on cartilage and meniscus of the knee joint in typical lower limb movements of Chen-style Tai Chi (TC) and deep squat (DS) were analyzed using finite element (FE) analysis. The loadings for this analysis consisted of muscle forces and ground reaction force (GRF), which were calculated through the inverse dynamic approach based on kinematics and force plate measurements obtained from motion capture experiments. Thirteen experienced practitioners performed four typical TC movements, namely, single whip (SW), brush knee and twist step (BKTS), stretch down (SD), and part the wild horse’s mane (PWHM), which exhibit lower posture and greater lower limb force compared to other TC styles. The results indicated that TC required greater lower limb muscle strength than DS, resulting in greater knee joint forces. The stress on the medial cartilage in SW and BKTS fell within a range conductive to maintaining the balance between anabolism and catabolism of cartilage matrix. This was due to the fact that SW and BKTS reduce the medial to total tibiofemoral contact force ratios through knee abduction, which may effectively alleviate mild medial knee osteoarthritis (KOA). However, the greater medial contact force ratios observed in SD and PWHM resulted in great contact stresses that may aggravate the pain of patients with KOA. To mitigate these effects, practitioners should consider elevating their postures appropriately to reduce knee flexion angles, especially during the single-leg support phase. This adjustment can decrease the required muscle strength, load and stress on the knee joint.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 12272029 and 11872095) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province (No. 20200201260JC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology (Beihang University) of Ministry of Education, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, No.37, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Haibo Liu, He Gong, Peng Chen, Le Zhang, Haipeng Cen & Yubo Fan

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  1. Haibo Liu
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  2. He Gong
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  3. Peng Chen
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  4. Le Zhang
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Contributions

Experimental design and funding were from He Gong and Yubo Fan. Data collection was performed by Peng Chen, Haibo Liu, and Le Zhang. Data analysis was performed by Haibo Liu and Peng Chen. The first draft was written by Haibo Liu, and He Gong reviewed and edited the draft. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript and agree with the order of presentation of the authors.

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Correspondence to He Gong.

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Liu, H., Gong, H., Chen, P. et al. Biomechanical effects of typical lower limb movements of Chen-style Tai Chi on knee joint. Med Biol Eng Comput 61, 3087–3101 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-023-02906-y

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