ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the most common techniques for evaluating the compressive, tensile, shear, frictional, and fatigue properties of normal, pathological, repair, and engineered articular cartilage, and the mathematical models that accompany them. To evaluate articular cartilage health, pathology, and therapeutic efficacy, it is imperative that appropriate assessment methodologies are developed and used. Qualitative assessments, such as gross morphology and histology, can often provide visual information rapidly and in toto. Other qualitative assessments include various imaging modalities, for example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and x-ray computed tomography (CT), which are noninvasive and, therefore, useful for sequential assessment. Second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy is an optical method that may, in the future, allow for nondestructive quantitative assessment of collagen alignment. Biochemical techniques are useful in yielding quantitative data for comparison among treatments and across experiments. The chapter also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of small and large animals, as used for studying articular cartilage pathophysiology and regeneration.
