| 摘要 |
A ligament assembly comprising a resilient element 20 connected to a bone anchor 4 and a ligament 18, the resilient element 20 acting as a cantilever and resisting loads transmitted between the bone anchor 4 and the ligament 18 by virtue of the resistance to bending of the resilient element. The ligament 18 may comprise an artificial ligament 18 which is adapted to replace a human or animal ligament. The resilient element 20 may comprise a spiral spring and may act as a biasing element/shock absorber operatively coupled to the artificial ligament 18 to control the effective stiffness of the artificial ligament 18. Consequently, the resilient element 20 enables an effective stiffness of the artificial ligament 18 to be achieved that more closely approximates the stiffness of a natural ligament. The bone anchor may be part of a joint prosthesis, comprising a bore to receive the resilient element. |
