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Tensorial Electrokinetics in Articular Cartilage

Cartilage Biomechanics Group, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Thomas M. Quinn, PhD, Cartilage Biomechanics Group, AI 1234 EPFL Station 15, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Tel.: 41-21-693-83-50; Fax: 41-21-693-86-60; E-mail: thomas.quinn{at}epfl.ch.

Electrokinetic phenomena contribute to biomechanical functions of articular cartilage and underlie promising methods for early detection of osteoarthritic lesions. Although some transport properties, such as hydraulic permeability, are known to become anisotropic with compression, the direction-dependence of cartilage electrokinetic properties remains unknown. Electroosmosis experiments were therefore performed on adult bovine articular cartilage samples, whereby fluid flows were driven by electric currents in directions parallel and perpendicular to the articular surface of statically compressed explants. Magnitudes of electrokinetic coefficients decreased slightly with compression (from –7.5 µL/As in the range of 0–20% compression to –6.0 µL/As in the 35–50% range) consistent with predictions of microstructure-based models of cartilage material properties. However, no significant dependence on direction of the electrokinetic coupling coefficient was detected, even for conditions where the hydraulic permeability tensor is known to be anisotropic. This contrast may also be interpreted using microstructure-based models, and provides insights into structure-function relationships in cartilage extracellular matrix and physical mediators of cell responses to tissue compression. Findings support the use of relatively simple isotropic modeling approaches for electrokinetic phenomena in cartilage and related materials, and indicate that measurement of electrokinetic properties may provide particularly robust means for clinical evaluation of cartilage matrix integrity.