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| Knee Joint |
Your knee is the joint where your upper leg bone (femur) meets with the bone of your lower leg (tibia). A joint is the term used to indicate a connection between two or more bones. Your knee joint is the largest joint in your body.
Your knee needs supporting structures such as bones, cartilages, muscles, ligaments, and tendons to maintain stability when you stand, walk or run.
Parts of the Knee - Anatomy of the Knee
- Bones of the Knee
There are three bones that compose your knee: the femur (thigh bone), patella or kneecap and the tibia or shin bone. Your patella sits over your other knee bones, in front of the joint. Your patella slides over the front surface of the your knee when you move your joint. Functions of the patella include protecting the front of your knee and providing leverage to your knee supporting muscles. - The Articular Cartilage
The articular cartilage is a tough, elastic material covering ends of bones in a movable joint. Articular cartilage also covers the inner surface of your patella. The purpose of your knee cartilages is to provide smooth gliding of bones and helping absorb shock during movement. - The Meniscus (Plural: Menisci)
Your menisci are crescent-shaped pads of connective tissue between your femur and tibia. You have two menisci in each knee: the medial and lateral meniscus. They act as shock absorbers and provide certain degree of stability to your knee during movement. - Muscles and Tendons
There are two groups of muscles that help move your knee. The quadriceps muscles, composed of four muscles, are located in front of your thigh that help straighten your bent knee. At the back of your thigh are the hamstrings muscles help bend your knee.
A tendon is a connective tissue that connects your muscle to your bone. One of the largest tendon in your body is the tendon of your quadriceps muscles (quadriceps tendon), which attaches your quadriceps to your patella, allowing these muscles to have greater power to straighten your knee. - Ligaments
A ligaments is a strong band of tissue that connects a bone to another bone at a joint. You have four ligaments that help keep stability to your knee.
- Medical Collateral Ligament (MCL). Your MCl runs along the inner (medial) side of your knee. It helps in keeping the medial side of your knee stable.
- Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL). Your lateral collateral ligament runs along the outer (lateral) side of your knee. It helps in providing stability to the outer part of your knee joint.
- Cruciate Ligaments. You have two cruciate ligaments located between your thigh and shin bone (tibia) in the center of your knee. They are the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments. Your Anterior cruciate ligament, also called ACL, helps limit rotation and movement of your tibia forward.
The posterior cruciate ligament, or PCL, also located inside your knee that crosses with your ACL helps limit excessive backward movement of your tibia.
