2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (7): 1031-1037

Finite element analysis of elastic ankle brace performance

Guo Tingting1, Xie Hong1, Xu Guanghua2   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Ankle injury is a high incidence type of sports injury. Common sequelae include chronic ankle instability and repeated ankle sprain. Long-term development will form secondary arthritis, resulting in ankle dysfunction. Elastic ankle brace is a common protective device used to prevent ankle injury.
OBJECTIVE: To predict the influence of elastic ankle brace on stress of the ankle internal tissue under different motion states using finite element method so as to the influence of elastic ankle brace on ankle protection performance.
METHODS: A healthy ankle three-dimensional finite element model was constructed using reverse engineering technology, based on CT image sequences. The plantar pressure test and anterior drawer test were utilized to validate the effectiveness of the model. Ankle varus and valgus were simulated in the absence of ankle brace and under the action of three different kinds of elastic ankle brace to extract overall ankle displacement and stress distribution of the internal tissue.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The simulation results of plantar pressure of foot and ankle finite element model were in good agreement with the experimental results. The simulation results of anterior drawer test were in good agreement with the corpse experiment in literature, which proved the validity of this model. (2) Elastic ankle brace reduced the overall displacement of ankle and the peak stress of internal tissue in the states of varus, valgus, internal rotation and external rotation, and the effect was enhanced with the increase of the elastic modulus of the material. It demonstrates the protective effect of elastic ankle brace and provides a reference for the digital evaluation of the protective effect of elastic ankle brace.
Key words: ankle brace, ankle, finite element model, sports injury protection, performance evaluation