Viscoelastic properties of bovine knee joint articular cartilage: dependency on thickness and loading frequency

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

David WL Hukins¹  Duncan ET Shepherd¹  Daniel M Espino¹ 

[1] School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

关键词: Viscoelasticity;    Thickness;    Stiffness;    Dynamic mechanical analysis;    Articular cartilage;   

Others  :  1125552
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-15-205

 received in 2013-07-23, accepted in 2014-06-10,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

The knee is an incongruent joint predisposed to developing osteoarthritis, with certain regions being more at risk of cartilage degeneration even in non-osteoarthrosed joints.

At present it is unknown if knee regions prone to cartilage degeneration have similar storage and/or loss stiffness, and frequency-dependent trends, to other knee joint cartilage. The aim of this study was to determine the range of frequency-dependent, viscoelastic stiffness of articular cartilage across the bovine knee joint. Such changes were determined at frequencies associated with normal and rapid heel-strike rise times.

Methods

Cartilage on bone, obtained from bovine knee joints, was tested using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). DMA was performed at a range of frequencies between 1 and 88 Hz (i.e. relevant to normal and rapid heel-strike rise times). Viscoelastic stiffness of cartilage from the tibial plateau, femoral condyles and patellar groove were compared.

Results

For all samples the storage stiffness increased, but the loss stiffness remained constant, with frequency. They were also dependent on cartilage thickness. Both the loss stiffness and the storage stiffness decreased with cartilage thickness. Femoral condyles had the thinnest cartilage but had the highest storage and loss stiffness. Tibial plateau cartilage not covered by the meniscus had the thickest cartilage and lowest storage and loss stiffness.

Conclusion

Differences in regional thickness of knee joint cartilage correspond to altered frequency-dependent, viscoelastic stiffness.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Espino et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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