On the Role of the Patella, ACL and Joint Contact Forces in the Extension of the Knee

Traditional descriptions of the knee suggest that the function of the patella is to facilitate knee extension by increasing the moment arm of the quadriceps muscles. Through modelling and evidence from the literature it is shown in this paper that the presence of the patella makes the ability of the quadriceps to rotate the thigh greater than their ability to rotate the tibia. Furthermore, this difference increases as the knee is flexed, thus demonstrating a pattern that is consistent with many human movements. This paper also shows that the anterior cruciate ligament plays a previously unheralded role in extending the shank and that translation at the tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints is important in improving the capacity for thigh rotation when the knee is flexed. This study provides new insights as to how the structure of the knee is adapted to its purpose and illustrates how the functional anatomy of the knee contributes to its extension function.