Designing artificial anterior cruciate ligaments based on novel fibrous structures

The present paper reports the development of novel braided structures using polyamide 6.6 fibers for application as artificial anterior cruciate ligaments (ACLs). The developed structures were circular braids, axially reinforced with either a number of core yarns or braided structures. Tensile behavior of these structures was characterized and the effects of number of axial yarns or braids and, the number of yarns used in the axial braids were thoroughly investigated. From the experimental results, it was observed that the braided structures with axial braids could mimic the load-elongation behaviour of native ACL. The average breaking extension and strain at toe region were 30 % and 4.3 % respectively, which are in the range of native ACLs. The maximum breaking force and stiffness achieved with 7 axial braids, each produced using 6 yarns were 274 N and 13.5 N/mm respectively and, both breaking force and stiffess showed linear increase with the number of axial braids as well as number of yarns used in the axial braids. Therefore, it is possible to design an artificial graft using these novel braided sturctures with mechanical properties similar to that of native ACLs, through adjustment of these structural parameters, as these braided structures have much smaller diameter (0.5 mm) than native ACLs (11 mm).