Abstract
Articular cartilage in knee joint can be anatomically divided into different regions: medial and lateral condyles of femur; patellar groove of femur; medial and lateral plateaus of tibia covered or uncovered by meniscus. The stress–strain curves of cartilage in uniaxially unconfined compression demonstrate strain rate dependency and exhibit distinct topographical variation among these seven regions. The femoral cartilage is stiffer than the tibial cartilage, and the cartilage in femoral groove is stiffest in the knee joint. Compared with the uncovered area, the area covered with meniscus shows the stiffer properties. To investigate the origin of differences in macroscopic mechanical properties, histological analysis of cartilage in seven regions are conducted. The differences are discussed in terms of the cartilage structure, composition content and distribution. Furthermore, the commonly used constitutive models for biological tissues, namely Fung, Ogden and Gent models, are employed to fit the experimental data, and Fung and Ogden models are found to be qualified in representing the stiffening effect of strain rate.
Highlights
Articular cartilage in knee joint can be anatomically divided into different regions: medial and lateral condyles of femur; patellar groove of femur; medial and lateral plateaus of tibia covered or uncovered by meniscus
According to functional differences and anatomy definition, the cartilage of the two joints can be classified into seven regions: medial condyle of femur (FMI); lateral condyle of femur (FLI); patellar groove of femur (FPI); medial plateaus of tibia covered by meniscus (TMI-M); medial plateaus of tibia uncovered by meniscus (TMI); lateral plateaus of tibia covered by meniscus (TLI-M); lateral plateaus of tibia uncovered by meniscus (TLI)
(1) The stress–strain behavior of cartilage in unconfined compression shows a typical non-linear trend, and the mechanical property depends on the compression loading rate
Summary
Articular cartilage in knee joint can be anatomically divided into different regions: medial and lateral condyles of femur; patellar groove of femur; medial and lateral plateaus of tibia covered or uncovered by meniscus. According to functional differences and anatomy definition, the cartilage of the two joints can be classified into seven regions: medial condyle of femur (FMI); lateral condyle of femur (FLI); patellar groove of femur (FPI); medial plateaus of tibia covered by meniscus (TMI-M); medial plateaus of tibia uncovered by meniscus (TMI); lateral plateaus of tibia covered by meniscus (TLI-M); lateral plateaus of tibia uncovered by meniscus (TLI). The mechanical properties of tibiofemoral and patellofemoral articular cartilages are discussed in terms of both region dependence (namely FMI, FLI, FPI, TMI-M, TMI, TLI-M, TLI) and strain rate dependence. Based on the histological analyses, the relationship between the macro mechanical properties, biological structures and physiological function of different regions of cartilage have been discussed. The mechanical constitutive models of cartilage are proposed, which could provide reference for numerical simulation to predict the cartilage damage and assessing cartilage replacement materials
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