Development of a computational-experimental framework for enhanced mechanical characterization and cross-species comparison of the articular cartilage superficial zone

Abstract

To provide a better understanding of the contribution of specific constituents (i.e. proteoglycan, collagen, fluid) to the mechanical behavior of the superficial zone of articular cartilage, a complex biological tissue with several time-dependent properties, a finite element model was developed. Optimization was then used to fit the model to microindentation experiments. We used this model to compare superficial zone material properties of mature human vs. immature bovine articular cartilage. Non-linearity and stiffness of the fiber-reinforced component of the model differed between human and bovine tissue. This may be due to the more complex collagen architecture in mature tissue and is of interest to investigate in future work.

Keywords:

• Cartilage
• finite element analysis
• cross-species comparison
• material modeling
• nanoindentation
• tribology

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the ‘Gift of Hope Tissue & Organ Donor Network of Illinois’ and donor’s families, and Arnavaz Hakimiyan for help in tissue retrieval.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH R01AR066635) and by Klaus Kuettner chair for Osteoarthritis Research (SC).