Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Clinical Trial
. 2013 Feb 1;46(3):541-7.
doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2012.09.013. Epub 2012 Oct 24.

Diurnal variations in articular cartilage thickness and strain in the human knee

Jeremy L Coleman  1 , Margaret R Widmyer, Holly A Leddy, Gangadhar M Utturkar, Charles E Spritzer, Claude T Moorman 3rd, Farshid Guilak, Louis E DeFrate
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Diurnal variations in articular cartilage thickness and strain in the human knee

Jeremy L Coleman et al. J Biomech. .

Abstract

Due to the biphasic viscoelastic nature of cartilage, joint loading may result in deformations that require times on the order of hours to fully recover. Thus, cartilaginous tissues may exhibit cumulative strain over the course of each day. The goal of this study was to assess the magnitude and spatial distribution of strain in the articular cartilage of the knee with daily activity. Magnetic resonance (MR) images of 10 asymptomatic subjects (six males and four females) with mean age of 29 years were obtained at 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM on the same day using a 3T magnet. These images were used to create 3D models of the femur, tibia, and patella from which cartilage thickness distributions were quantified. Cartilage thickness generally decreased from AM to PM in all areas except the patellofemoral groove and was associated with significant compressive strains in the medial condyle and tibial plateau. From AM to PM, cartilage of the medial tibial plateau exhibited a compressive strain of -5.1±1.0% (mean±SEM) averaged over all locations, while strains in the lateral plateau were slightly lower (-3.1±0.6%). Femoral cartilage showed an average strain of -1.9±0.6%. The findings of this study show that human knee cartilage undergoes diurnal changes in strain that vary with site in the joint. Since abnormal joint loading can be detrimental to cartilage homeostasis, these data provide a baseline for future studies investigating the effects of altered biomechanics on diurnal cartilage strains and cartilage physiology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement: No conflicts to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A sagittal view of an asymptomatic right human knee using a 3T MRI scanner. The cartilaginous and osseous boundaries of the femur (F), tibia (T), and patella (P) were segmented on each slice and stacked to create 3D models of the joint.
Figure 2
Figure 2
3D models of the right tibia (A), patella (B), and femur (C) showing grid scheme for computing thickness changes and strains. The patella is shown from a posterior view. Right femur is shown from an inferior view (left) and a posterior view (right).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cartilage thickness maps of the tibia (A), femur (B), and patella (C) measured in the AM (left) and PM (right). (M = Medial, L=Lateral, A=Anterior, P=Posterior)
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean (± sem) AM cartilage thickness varies significantly between compartments and with sex (ANOVA, location p<0.0001, sex p<0.0001, location*sex p=0.80). Symbols show significant differences from post-hoc tests for each factor (sex, location) (LSD post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction, p<0.025).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Mean (± sem) cartilage thickness decreases from AM to PM in most major knee compartments. *AM thickness significantly different from PM (paired t-test with Bonferroni correction, p<0.025).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Cartilage in most knee compartments undergoes significant diurnal compressive strain. Bars are mean (± sem). *strains significantly different from zero (t-test with Bonferroni correction, p<0.025). Bars with different letters are significantly different from one another (ANOVA, LSD post-hoc test with Bonferroni correction, p<0.025).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aaboe J, Bliddal H, Messier SP, Alkjaer T, Henriksen M. Effects of an intensive weight loss program on knee joint loading in obese adults with knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage / OARS, Osteoarthritis Research Society. 2011;19:822–828. - PubMed
    1. Abebe ES, Moorman CT, 3rd, Dziedzic TS, Spritzer CE, Cothran RL, Taylor DC, Garrett WE, Jr, DeFrate LE. Femoral tunnel placement during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: an in vivo imaging analysis comparing transtibial and 2-incision tibial tunnel-independent techniques. Am J Sports Med. 2009;37:1904–1911. - PubMed
    1. Anandacoomarasamy A, Leibman S, Smith G, Caterson I, Giuffre B, Fransen M, Sambrook PN, March L. Weight loss in obese people has structure-modifying effects on medial but not on lateral knee articular cartilage. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2012;71:26–32. - PubMed
    1. Andriacchi TP, Lang PL, Alexander EJ, Hurwitz DE. Methods for evaluating the progression of osteoarthritis. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2000;37:163–170. - PubMed
    1. Andriacchi TP, Mundermann A, Smith RL, Alexander EJ, Dyrby CO, Koo S. A framework for the in vivo pathomechanics of osteoarthritis at the knee. Annals of biomedical engineering. 2004;32:447–457. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources