Development of a Motion-controlled Testing Device to Simulate Elbow Motion In-vitro

INTRODUCTION: Laboratory testing plays an important role in advancing patient care by helping to develop new treatment techniques and improved rehabilitation therapies. By simulating active elbow motion in-vitro, injury mechanisms can be explored and new clinical approaches can be studied prior to implementation in-vivo. Several devices capable of simulating such elbow motion currently exist, and incorporate either load-controlled tendon loading (1,2) or motioncontrolled bone loading (3-5). However, a motion-controlled tendon loading device capable of simulating active elbow motion has not been previously described. The purpose of this study was to develop such a motion-controlled testing system to study kinematics in the stable and unstable elbow in various orientations, and to evaluate its performance.