In-vivo time-dependent articular cartilage contact behavior of the tibiofemoral joint

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the in-vivo time-dependent contact behavior of tibiofemoral cartilage of human subjects during the first 300 seconds after applying a constant full bodyweight loading and determine whether there are differences in cartilage contact responses between the medial and lateral compartments. Design Six healthy knees were investigated in this study. Each knee joint was subjected to full bodyweight loading and the in-vivo positions of the knee were captured by two orthogonal fluoroscopes during the first 300 seconds after applying the load. Three dimensional models of the knee were created from MR images and used to reproduce the in-vivo knee positions recorded by the fluoroscopes. The time-dependent contact behavior of the cartilage was represented using the peak cartilage contact deformation and the cartilage contact area as functions of time under the constant full bodyweight. Results Both medial and lateral compartments showed a rapid increase in contact deformation and contact area during the first 20 seconds of loading. After 50 seconds of loading, the peak contact deformation values were 10.5±0.8 % (medial) and 12.6±3.4 % (lateral), and the contact areas were 223.9±14.8 mm2 (medial) and 123.0±22.8 mm2 (lateral). Thereafter, the peak cartilage contact deformation and contact area remained relatively constant. The respective changing rates of cartilage contact deformation were 1.4±0.9 %/s (medial) and 3.1±2.5 %/s (lateral); and of contact areas were 40.6±20.8 mm2/s (medial) and 24.0±11.4 mm2/s (lateral), at the first second of loading. Beyond 50 seconds, both changing rates approached zero. Conclusions The peak cartilage contact deformation increased rapidly within the first 20 seconds of loading and remained relatively constant after ~50 second of loading. The time-dependent response of cartilage contact behavior under constant full bodyweight loading was significantly different in the medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments, with greater peak cartilage contact deformation on the lateral side and greater contact area on the medial side. These data can provide insight into normal in-vivo cartilage function and provide guidelines for the improvement of ex-vivo cartilage experiments and the validation of computational models that simulate human knee joint contact.

The spatio-temporal mechanical environment of healthy and injured human cartilage during sustained activity and its role in cartilage damage

“…We define the peak contact strain as the maximum vertical deformation divided by cartilage thickness. It can be seen in Figure 4a that the intact cartilage (Case 1) is predicted to experience approximately 10% peak contact strain when the load is applied for 5 s. This prediction is consistent with the experimental results of Hosseini et al (2010), who reported peak contact strain of 8.6±2.6 % in the lateral tibia plateau 5 s after application of full body weight to one leg. The model predicts a peak contact strain of 13.8%, 300 s after loading application which is also similar to the experimental measurements of Hosseini et al (2010) (i.e.…”

Physical Stimulation of Chondrogenic Cells In Vitro: A Review

“…In reality this is quite difficult to predict, because in vivo loads can vary greatly even within the same joint. During load, the lateral tibial plateau has a greater cartilage contact deformation, but lower cartilage contact area, than the medial compartment during the same loading cycle [37]. Both compartments demonstrated a cartilage contact deformation of between 10% and 15% and the bulk of this deformation was generated during the first 20 seconds of load [37].…”

“…During load, the lateral tibial plateau has a greater cartilage contact deformation, but lower cartilage contact area, than the medial compartment during the same loading cycle [37]. Both compartments demonstrated a cartilage contact deformation of between 10% and 15% and the bulk of this deformation was generated during the first 20 seconds of load [37]. The rotation of the femur with respect to the tibia varies during gait with twin peaks of external rotation being observed during early midstance and toe-off [50].…”

Upper extremity joint stresses during walkerassisted ambulation in post-surgical patients

“…Although the absolute peak loads were greater, the impulse loading was not found to be different, indicating that forces on the surgical side upper extremity were applied over a longer period of time. Potential for wear increases with both high peak loads as well as from repetitive submaximal loads [20][21][22] . Debate remains as to which factor: rate, magnitude or frequency of loading is the most detrimental to the joint tissue [23][24][25] .…”