Three dimensional anatomy of the anterior cruciate ligament: a new approach in anatomical orthopedic studies and a literature review

BACKGROUND: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important structure in the knee. The ACL does not heal following lesions, and surgical reconstruction is the standard treatment among athletes. Some steps of ACL reconstruction remain controversial. It is important to fully understand the anatomy of the ACL to accurately reproduce its anatomy during surgical reconstructions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of anaglyphic images that produce 3D images to better visualize the anatomy of the ACL, and to highlight the anatomical features of this ligament as reported in the literature. METHODS: We included ten knees in this study. After dissection of the knee structures, pictures were acquired using a camera with Nikon D40, AF-S Nikkor 18–55 mm (1:3.5–5.6 G2 ED), and Micro Nikkor 105 mm (1:2.8) lenses. The pair of images was processed using Callipyan 3D Anabuilder software, which transforms the two images into one anaglyphic image. RESULTS: During the dissection of the knees, nine pictures were acquired and transformed into anaglyphic images. CONCLUSION: This study, demonstrated that the use of 3D images is a useful tool that can improve the knowledge of the anatomy of the knee, while also facilitating knee reconstruction surgery.