Raman Determination of Ligament Tension

描述（由申请人提供）：与其他常见外科手术相比，膝关节韧带手术的副作用和并发症更多。前交叉韧带重建的长期成功率在75 - 90%之间。膝关节手术的目的是恢复膝关节的正常运动。如果张力过高，关节的活动范围受到限制，导致关节软骨和半月板受到异常应力，干扰移植物的血运重建。国家关节炎、肌肉骨骼和皮肤疾病研究所2000-2004财政年度战略计划列出了推荐的研究领域，包括“更好地了解影响植入物性能的环境变量和患者变量的研究”和“确定常见运动损伤的最佳治疗和康复策略”。第一阶段应用的假设是拉曼光谱可以用来测量韧带移植物的张力。该假设基于Wang等人（2000）的测量结果，他们观察到大鼠单尾肌腱纤维中拉曼线随张力的变化以及我们的初步测量结果。构建了一种用于测量韧带和肌腱拉曼光谱的仪器，并用于收集体外数据。测量MCL和ACL韧带作为施加应力的功能将用于证明所提出技术的可行性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): More marginal results and complications occur as a result of knee ligament surgery than of other common surgical procedure. Long-term success rates of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction range between 75 and 90%. The goal of knee surgery is to restore the normal kinematics of the knee. If the tension is too high, the range of motion of the joint is restricted, resulting in abnormal stresses on the articular cartilage and the menisci, and interfering with the revascularization of the graft. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Strategic plan for FY 2000-2004 lists recommended areas of research which include "research to better understand the environmental variables and patient variables affecting implant performance" and "determination of the optimal treatments and rehabilitation strategies for common sports injuries." The hypothesis of this Phase I application is that Raman spectroscopy can be used to measure the tension jn a ligament graft. This hypothesis is based on the measurements of Wang et al. (2000) who have observed shifts of Raman lines with tension in single rat-tail tendon fibers and our preliminary measurements. An instrument for measuring the Raman spectrum of ligaments and tendons will be constructed and used to collect in vitro data. Measurements of MCL and ACL ligaments as functions of applied stress will be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technique.