Nikita Garnov1,2, Wilfried Grnder2
1Diagnostic and Interventional
Radiology, Leipzig University Hospital, Leipzig, Germany; 2Institute
of Medical Physics and Biophysics, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Deformations
of collagen matrix in compressed articular cartilage have been well assessed
by various microscopic studies. A crimping and a bending of collagen fibres
were observed. However, the deformation behavior seems to be different in
health compared to arthritic-altered cartilage because of destruction of the
strain-limiting tangential layer. In particular, a chevron-type shear
discontinuity in the samples with an intact surface layer was observed. In
the present work we evaluated the pressure-dependent changes of collagen
fiber orientation on the basis of T2-weighted MR images. In healthy sheep
cartilage samples the chevron-like deformations were observed, indicating an
intact articular surface.