The changing role of the superficial region in determining the dynamic compressive properties of articular cartilage during postnatal development.

The role of the superficial region in determining the dynamic properties of articular 1 cartilage 2 3

Postnatal changes to the mechanical properties of articular cartilage are driven by the evolution of its collagen network.

While it is well established that the composition and organisation of articular cartilage dramatically change during skeletal maturation, relatively little is known about how this impacts the mechanical properties of the tissue. In this study, digital image correlation was first used to quantify spatial deformation within mechanically compressed skeletally immature (4 and 8 week old) and mature...

Anisotropy, inhomogeneity, and tension-compression nonlinearity of human glenohumeral cartilage in finite deformation.

The tensile and compressive properties of human glenohumeral cartilage were determined by testing 120 rectangular strips in uniaxial tension and 70 cylindrical plugs in confined compression, obtained from five human glenohumeral joints. Specimens were harvested from five regions across the articular surface of the humeral head and two regions on the glenoid. Tensile strips were obtained along t...

Depth-Dependent Anisotropy of the Micromechanical Properties of Porcine Articular Cartilage Measured via Atomic Force Microscopy

INTRODUCTION: Articular cartilage exhibits distinct differences in biochemical composition [1] and structure [2] of the extracellular matrix (ECM) with distance from the articular surface. These differences result in depth-dependent biomechanical properties [3, 4, 5] that can have a significant effect on the mechanical environment of the chondrocyte [6, 7]. An additional structural component of...

Mapping the depth dependence of shear properties in articular cartilage.

Determining the depth dependence of the shear properties of articular cartilage is essential for understanding the structure-function relation in this tissue. Here, we measured spatial variations in the shear modulus G of bovine articular cartilage using a novel technique that combines shear testing, confocal imaging and force measurement. We found that G varied by up to two orders of magnitude...