title: Non-destructive electromechanical assessment (Arthro-BST) of human articular cartilage correlates with histological scores and biomechanical properties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The hand-held Arthro-BST™ device is used to map electromechanical properties of articular cartilage. The purpose of the study was to evaluate correlation of electromechanical properties with histological, biochemical and biomechanical properties of cartilage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electromechanical properties (quantitative parameter (QP)) of eight human distal femurs were mapped manually ex vivo using the Arthro-BST (1 measure/site, 5 s/measure, 3209 sites). Osteochondral cores were then harvested from different areas on the femurs and assessed with the Mankin histological score. Prior to histoprocessing, cores were tested in unconfined compression. A subset of the cores was analyzed with polarized light microscopy (PLM) to assess collagen structure. Biochemical assays were done on additional cores to obtain water content and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content. The QP corresponding to each core was calculated by averaging all QPs collected within 6 mm of the core center.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The electromechanical QP correlated strongly with both the Mankin score and the PLM score (r = 0.73, P < 0.0001 and r = -0.70, P < 0.0001 respectively) thus accurately reflecting tissue quality and collagen architecture. Electromechanical QP also correlated strongly with biomechanical properties including fibril modulus (r = -0.76, P < 0.0001), matrix modulus (r = -0.69, P < 0.0001), and log of permeability (r = 0.72, P < 0.0001). The QP correlated weakly with GAG per wet weight and with water content (r = -0.50, P < 0.0003 and r = 0.39, P < 0.006 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-destructive electromechanical QP measurements correlate strongly with histological scores and biomechanical parameters providing a rapid and reliable assessment of articular cartilage quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada; Biomomentum Inc., 970 Michelin St., Suite 200, Laval, Quebec H7L 5C1, Canada. Electronic address: sotcheadt.sim@polymtl.ca.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada. Electronic address: anik.chevrier@polymtl.ca.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chevrier
authors.affiliation: Biomomentum Inc., 970 Michelin St., Suite 200, Laval, Quebec H7L 5C1, Canada. Electronic address: garon@biomomentum.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garon
authors.affiliation: Biomomentum Inc., 970 Michelin St., Suite 200, Laval, Quebec H7L 5C1, Canada. Electronic address: quenneville@biomomentum.com.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Quenneville
authors.affiliation: Vital Systems, Inc., 3701 Algonquin Rd, Suite 310 Rolling Meadows, IL 60008, USA. Electronic address: ayaroshinsky@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yaroshinsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada; Groupe de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies Biomédicales, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada. Electronic address: caroline.hoemann@polymtl.ca.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Hoemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada; Groupe de Recherche en Sciences et Technologies Biomédicales, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A7, Canada. Electronic address: michael.buschmann@polymtl.ca.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Buschmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002102:Cadaver; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008859:Microscopy, Polarization; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Articular cartilage; Biomechanics; Mankin score; Osteoarthritis; Polarized light microscopy; Streaming potentials