relative to the surface under investigation were performed by means of eight inflatable balloons. An integrated threedimensional, piezoelectric scanner allowed raster scanning and probing of a small area of cartilage around the point of insertion. An AFM probe with an integrated deflection sensor was mounted at the distal end of the instrument. Using this instrument, several measurements were performed on agarose gel and on porcine cartilage samples. The load-displacement curves obtained were analyzed and the dynamic elastic moduli E * were calculated. A good correlation between these values and those published in the scientific literature was found. Therefore, we concluded that the SFA can provide quantitative measurements to detect early pathological changes in OA.