Tibiotalar cartilage stress corresponds to T2 mapping: application to barefoot running in novice and marathon-experienced runners

Abstract

A 3D anatomically-based finite-element foot model was adopted for predicting von Mises stresses within tibiotalar cartilage following 5 km barefoot running. To compare this predicted stress with T2 maps, magnetic resonance scans of the right ankle and plantar pressure were obtained from ten novices and ten marathon-experienced runners before and after running. Following running, tibiotalar cartilage stress was decreased in experienced runners. This corresponded with T2 values that did not change between pre- and post-running suggesting no increase in cartilage fluid levels. In contrast, novices maintained the same level of von Mises stress and this corresponded with a significant T2 increase in tibiotalar cartilage.

Keywords:

• Finite element model
• T2 maps
• barefoot run
• tibiotalar cartilage
• novice runners
• marathon-experienced runners

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the radiologists at Auckland City Hospital for analysing the study T2 MRIs and their valuable feedback for this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.