We analyzed the MRI images of ACL injured and uninjured control subjects and found that the slope of the tibia and medial tibial depth are significant risk factors of ACL injury. Also, we found that females have steeper tibial slope and shallower medial tibial depth resulting in high ACL injury risk. The results are significant in offering the potential to identify subjects who are at high risk of ACL injury. These subjects will be ideal candidates for using the novel brace designs that will be developed under the collaboration with the knee brace companies, described above. The long term strategy is to develop an empirical relationship between tibial slope and ACL strain during dynamic activities using the knee injury simulator.
