Abstract
The articular cartilage tissue is an essential component of joints as it reduces the friction between the two bones. Its load-bearing properties depend mostly on proteoglycan distribution, which can be analyzed through the study of the presence of sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG). Currently, sGAG distribution in articular cartilage is not completely known; it is calculated by means of laboratory tests that imply the inherent inaccuracy of a manual procedure. This paper presents an easy-to-use desktop software application for obtaining the sGAG distribution profile in tissue. This app uses color images of stained cartilage tissues taken under a microscope, so researchers at the Trinity Centre for Bioengineering (Dublin, Ireland) can understand the qualitative distribution of sGAG with depth in the studied tissues.
Author Statement
Research funding: C. Iglesias acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport for the FPU 12/02283 grant. This research has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the research project TIN2016-76770-R.
Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.
Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable.
Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animal use.
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