Deformation behaviors and mechanical impairments of tissue cracks in immature and mature cartilages
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2022
Abstract
Degeneration of articular cartilage is often triggered by a small tissue crack. As cartilage structure and composition change with age, the mechanics of cracked cartilage may depend on the tissue age, but this relationship is poorly understood. Here, we investigated cartilage mechanics and crack deformation in immature and mature cartilage exposed to a full-thickness tissue crack using indentation testing and histology, respectively. When a cut was introduced, tissue cracks opened wider in the mature cartilage compared to the immature cartilage. However, the opposite occurred upon mechanical indentation over the cracked region. Functionally, the immature-cracked cartilages stress-relaxed faster, experienced increased tissue strain, and had reduced instantaneous stiffness, compared to the mature-cracked cartilages. Taken together, mature cartilage appears to withstand surface cracks and maintains its mechanical properties better than immature cartilage and these superior properties can be explained by the structure of their collagen fibrous network.
Keywords
Collagen fibers, Crack width, Indentation, Osteoarthritis, Polarized light microscopy, Skeletal maturity
Divisions
biomedengine
Funders
Canada Research Chairs,Research Council of Finland (Grant No: 324529),Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions postdoctoral fellowship (Grant No: 890936),Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR),Killam Foundation,Research Council of Finland (Grant No: 324529 & 324529),Marie Curie Actions (Grant No: 890936)
Publication Title
Journal of Orthopaedic Research
Volume
40
Issue
9
Publisher
Wiley
Publisher Location
111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA