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DT-MRI Based Computation of Collagen Fiber Deformation in Human Articular Cartilage: A Feasibility Study

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Abstract

Accurate techniques for simulating the deformation of soft biological tissues are an increasingly valuable tool in many areas of biomechanical analysis and medical image computing. To model the complex morphology and response of articular cartilage, a hyperviscoelastic (dispersed) fiber-reinforced constitutive model is employed to complete two specimen-specific finite element (FE) simulations of an indentation experiment, with and without considering fiber dispersion. Ultra-high field Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (17.6 T DT-MRI) is performed on a specimen of human articular cartilage before and after indentation to ∼20% compression. Based on this DT-MRI data, we detail a novel FE approach to determine the geometry (edge detection from first eigenvalue), the meshing (semi-automated smoothing of DTI measurement voxels), and the fiber structural input (estimated principal fiber direction and dispersion). The global and fiber fabric deformations of both the un-dispersed and dispersed fiber models provide a satisfactory match to that estimated experimentally. In both simulations, the fiber fabric in the superficial and middle zones becomes more aligned with the articular surface, although the dispersed model appears more consistent with the literature. In the future, a multi-disciplinary combination of DT-MRI and numerical simulation will allow the functional state of articular cartilage to be determined in vivo.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Austrian Science Fund through project P-18110-B15 ‘Visualization of biomechanics of articular cartilage by MRI’. In addition, we acknowledge Dimitris Kiousis for several lengthy discussions and support regarding the use of a custom smooth contact algorithm, as well as general support regarding FEAP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomechanics, Center of Biomedical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Kronesgasse 5-I, 8010, Graz, Austria

    David M. Pierce & Gerhard A. Holzapfel

  2. Institute for Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16-II, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Werner Trobin & Horst Bischof

  3. Department of Clinical Radiology, Großhadern, Josef Lissner Laboratory for Biomedical Imaging, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Großhadern Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    José G. Raya

  4. Department of Radiology, Center of Excellence for High Field MR, Medical University of Vienna, Lazarettgasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Siegfried Trattnig

  5. Department of Clinical Radiology, Großhadern, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Großhadern Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Christian Glaser

  6. Department of Solid Mechanics, School of Engineering Sciences, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Osquars Backe 1, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Gerhard A. Holzapfel

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  1. David M. Pierce
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  2. Werner Trobin
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Correspondence to Gerhard A. Holzapfel.

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Associate Editor Michael S. Detamore oversaw the review of this article.

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Pierce, D.M., Trobin, W., Raya, J.G. et al. DT-MRI Based Computation of Collagen Fiber Deformation in Human Articular Cartilage: A Feasibility Study. Ann Biomed Eng 38, 2447–2463 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-010-9990-9

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