Mechano‐acoustic determination of Young's modulus of articular cartilage

Issue title: 3rd International Symposium on Mechanobiology of Cartilage and Chondrocyte. Brussels, May 16–17, 2003

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Saarakkala, Simo^; | Korhonen, Rami K. | Laasanen, Mikko S.^; | Töyräs, Juha | Rieppo, Jarno | Jurvelin, Jukka S.^{; ;}

Affiliations: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Etelä‐Savo Hospital District, Mikkeli Central Hospital, Porrassalmenkatu 35‐37, 50100 Mikkeli, Finland | Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine, Kuopio University Hospital and University of Kuopio, POB 1777, 70211 Kuopio, Finland | Department of Applied Physics, University of Kuopio, POB 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland | Department of Anatomy, University of Kuopio, POB 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland

Note: [] Address for correspondence: Professor Jukka Jurvelin, Ph.D., Department of Applied Physics, University of Kuopio, P.O.B. 1627, FIN‐70211, Kuopio, Finland. Tel.: +358 17 162530; Fax: +358 17 162585; E‐mail: [email protected]; URL: www.luotain.uku.fi.

Abstract: The compressive stiffness of an elastic material is traditionally characterized by its Young's modulus. Young's modulus of articular cartilage can be directly measured using unconfined compression geometry by assuming the cartilage to be homogeneous and isotropic. In isotropic materials, Young's modulus can also be determined acoustically by the measurement of sound speed and density of the material. In the present study, acoustic and mechanical techniques, feasible for in vivo measurements, were investigated to quantify the static and dynamic compressive stiffness of bovine articular cartilage in situ. Ultrasound reflection from the cartilage surface, as well as the dynamic modulus were determined with the recently developed ultrasound indentation instrument and compared with the reference mechanical and ultrasound speed measurements in unconfined compression (n=72). In addition, the applicability of manual creep measurements with the ultrasound indentation instrument was evaluated both experimentally and numerically. Our experimental results indicated that the sound speed could predict 47% and 53% of the variation in the Young's modulus and dynamic modulus of cartilage, respectively. The dynamic modulus, as determined manually with the ultrasound indentation instrument, showed significant linear correlations with the reference Young's modulus (r2=0.445, p<0.01, n=70) and dynamic modulus (r2=0.779, p<0.01, n=70) of the cartilage. Numerical analyses indicated that the creep measurements, conducted manually with the ultrasound indentation instrument, were sensitive to changes in Young's modulus and permeability of the tissue, and were significantly influenced by the tissue thickness. We conclude that acoustic parameters, i.e. ultrasound speed and reflection, are indicative to the intrinsic mechanical properties of the articular cartilage. Ultrasound indentation instrument, when further developed, provides an applicable tool for the in vivo detection of cartilage mechano‐acoustic properties. These techniques could promote the diagnostics of osteoarthrosis.

Keywords: Articular cartilage, Young's modulus, ultrasound, osteoarthrosis, finite element analysis

Journal: Biorheology, vol. 41, no. 3-4, pp. 167-179, 2004