The relationship of the compressive modulus of articular cartilage with its deformation response to cyclic loading: does cartilage optimize its modulus so as to minimize the strains arising in it due to the prevalent loading regime?

Abstract

Aim. To investigate the relationship of the instantaneous compressive modulus with its deformation response to cyclic loading typical of that encountered at the knee joint during level walking. Method. The study was performed on 24 osteochondral plugs taken from three unembalmed cadaveric knees. As the compressive modulus of cartilage has been shown to vary topographically across the knee in an established manner, the specimens were taken from specific sites on the femur and tibia of each knee. All the cartilage specimens were immersed in Hanks’ salt solution at 37°C and were subjected to the same cyclic loading regimen that was representative of a typical walking cycle in a specialized indentation apparatus, for over 1 h. Results and conclusion. The viscous and elastic components of matrix strain, the creep rate and the cartilage compressive modulus were measured. The latter was found to be significantly related to the strain response of cartilage to cyclic loading. Elastic strain varied exponentially with the compressive modulus; specimens with a modulus less than 4 MPa experienced elastic strains in the range 0.18–0.36, whereas stiffer specimens experienced strains between 0.05 and 0.13. Viscous strain varied linearly with cartilage stiffness and was as low as 0.02 at the lower values of the compressive modulus but increased to 0.22 for a compressive modulus of 18 MN/m². The rate of creep under cyclic load was inversely linearly related to cartilage stiffness. The strain response of soft specimens approached steady state by 200 cycles but that of stiff specimens did not approach it until 1300 cycles. It was hypothesized that the viscous strain response of cartilage can be explained in terms of differences in permeability between specimens of different compressive modulus, stiffer cartilage having a lower permeability than soft cartilage.