The ligaments of the knee

The knee is the largest and most complex joint in the human body and if you think about how the knee twists and turns when you run then it might not surprise you that the knee is the most common joint to become injured.

Knee injuries can keep sportsmen out of action for a whole season, often crippling them and their careers. It was this that inspired cricketer and doctor Chinmay Gupte to devote three years of research to the joint.

Three bones meet at the knee - the thigh bone (femur), the shin bone (tibia) and the knee cap (patella), which are all held in place by ligaments. The two most important ligaments are the front (anterior) and back (posterior) cruciate ligaments, found in the middle of the knee. They have a crucial role in keeping the knee strong and stable, so if one breaks it's a serious problem. Gazza famously tore his anterior cruciate during a tackle in the 1991 F.A. Cup Final, putting him out of action for 16 months.

The anterior cruciate is generally considered to be the most important of these ligaments; doctors have learnt a great deal about it over many years of research. But far less is known about the posterior ligament, which Dr Chinmay Gupte is currently investigating. He wants to find out exactly what it does and discover the purpose of its associated structures, the menisco-femoral ligaments. Even less is known about these and Chinmay hopes to test their strength and work out their function.