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Abstract

Introduction: Medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) is a surgical procedure intended to shift load from the medial to the lateral compartment of the knee. The 10-year success rates of HTO are variable. One factor affecting success may be how effectively the procedure corrects alignment in the coronal plane (wedge angle) and sagittal plane (slope angle). The objective of this study was to determine the effect of changing tibial slope for a range of tibial wedge angles in medial opening wedge HTO on knee joint contact pressure location and kinematics during continuous loaded flexion/extension. Methods: The accuracy and repeatability of Novel pliance capacitive pressure sensors were measured under relevant compressive forces using a materials testing system (Instron ElectroPuls E10000). Seven male cadaveric knee specimens (mean age 62 (14)) cycled through simulated squatting. Tibiofemoral and patellofemoral kinematics were measured using an infrared (Optotrak Certus) motion tracking system. Contact pressure was measured using capacitive pressure sensors (Novel Pliance). This assessment was repeated for seven clinically relevant combinations of wedge and slope. Results: The capacitive pressure sensors had a maximum error of 13 ± 2.1% when applying force across the entire sensor. Significant differences (p