Knowledge of in-vivo articular cartilage contact deformation is critical for understanding normal cartilage function and the etiology of osteoarthritis (2,8). This knowledge is also instrumental for design of ex-vivo experiment to investigate the chondrocyte mechanotransductions under physiological loading conditions (7). Further, in-vivo cartilage contact data is necessary for validation of 3D computational models used to predict biomechanical responses of the articular joints (1,5). However, due to the complexity of in-vivo joint loading conditions as well as the complicated joint geometry, little information is available on in-vivo cartilage deformation in literature (9). In-vivo cartilage deformation as a function of loading history has not been delineated. The objective of this study was to investigate real time in-vivo cartilage contact deformation of human ankle joint under physiological loading conditions using a combined dual-orthogonal fluoroscopic and MR imaging technique that was recently developed in our laboratory (3,6). The cartilage contact area and peak contact compressive strain were determined at different time intervals after the ankle joint was loaded along the loading history.
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