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Rheumatology Advance Access published online on September 5, 2008
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken345
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

In vivo cartilage contact deformation in the healthy human tibiofemoral joint

J. T. Bingham1, R. Papannagari1, S. K. Van de Velde1, C. Gross1, T. J. Gill1, D. T. Felson2, H. E. Rubash1 and G. Li1

1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bioengineering Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and 2Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.

Correspondence to: G. Li, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bioengineering Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit St., GRJ 1215, Boston, MA 02114, USA. E-mail: gli1{at}partners.org


  Abstract

Objectives. In vivo cartilage contact deformation is instrumental for understanding human joint function and degeneration. This study measured the total deformation of contacting articular cartilage in the human tibiofemoral joint during in vivo weight-bearing flexion.

Methods. Eleven healthy knees were magnetic resonance (MR) scanned and imaged with a dual fluoroscopic system while the subject performed a weight-bearing single-leg lunge. The tibia, femur and associated articulating cartilage were constructed from the MR images and combined with the dual fluoroscopic images to determine in vivo cartilage contact deformation from full extension to 120° of flexion.

Results. In both compartments, minimum peak compartmental contact deformation occurred at 30° of flexion (24 ± 6% medial, 17 ± 7% lateral) and maximum peak compartmental deformation occurred at 120° of flexion (30 ± 13% medial, 30 ± 10% lateral) during the weight-bearing flexion from full extension to 120°. Average medial contact areas and peak contact deformations were significantly greater than lateral compartment values (P < 0.05). In addition, cartilage thickness in regions of contact was on average 1.4- and 1.1-times thicker than the average thickness of the tibial and femoral cartilage surfaces, respectively (P < 0.05).

Conclusions. These data may provide base-line knowledge for investigating the effects of various knee injuries on joint contact biomechanics and the aetiology of cartilage degeneration.

KEY WORDS: Compartmental cartilage deformation, Knee joint, Biomechanics, Magnetic resonance, Cartilage thickness

Submitted 17 March 2008; revised version accepted 22 July 2008.
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