An arthroscopic device to assess articular cartilage defects and treatment with a hydrogel.
The hydraulic resistance R across osteochondral tissue, especially articular cartilage, decreases with degeneration and erosion. Clinically useful measures to quantify and diagnose the extent of cartilage degeneration and efficacy of repair strategies, especially with regard to pressure maintenance, are still developing. The hypothesis of this study was that hydraulic resistance provides a quantitative measure of osteochondral tissue that could be used to evaluate the state of cartilage damage and repair. The aims were to (1) develop a device to measure R in an arthroscopic setting, (2) determine whether the device could detect differences in R for cartilage, an osteochondral defect, and cartilage treated using a hydrogel ex vivo, and (3) determine how quickly such differences could be discerned. The apparent hydraulic resistance of defect samples was ~35% less than intact cartilage controls, while the resistance of hydrogel-filled groups was not statistically different than controls, suggesting some restoration of fluid pressurization in the defect region by the hydrogel. Differences in hydraulic resistance between control and defect groups were apparent after 4 s. The results indicate that the measurement of R is feasible for rapid and quantitative functional assessment of the extent of osteochondral defects and repair. The arthroscopic compatibility of the device demonstrates the potential for this measurement to be made in a clinical setting.
Department of Bioengineering, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0412, USA.
William J
WJ
McCarty
Anna
A
Luan
Priya
P
Sundaramurthy
Caryn
C
Urbanczyk
Atal
A
Patel
Jacob
J
Hahr
Mohammad
M
Sotoudeh
Anthony
A
Ratcliffe
Robert L
RL
Sah
D000818:Animals; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation; D002357:Cartilage Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D002417:Cattle; D004867:Equipment Design; D020100:Hydrogels; D066298:In Vitro Techniques
D020100:Hydrogels