猪关节软骨三层力-电特性的实验研究

Experimental investigation of the three-layer porcine articular cartilage’s mechano-electrical properties

力-电特性是关节软骨中众所周知的特性之一.然而目前还不清楚软骨组织不同区域的力-电特性.因此,本文的目的是研究关节软骨各区域的力-电特性及其相关影响因素.施加载荷后,力-电特性产生的电压信号沿软骨厚度方向由浅表层向深层逐渐增加,并且这种机制只有在应力产生明显相对变化时才能表现出来.此外,关节软骨的力-电特性产生的电压信号会随着载荷峰值和加载速率的增加而明显增加.我们通过将实验结果与指数函数进行拟合,得出了软骨各区的力-电特性的电压变化规律.研究结果表明,软骨组织不同区域的力-电特性差异在很大程度上取决于胶原纤维的排列分布.另外,软骨的内部结构和外部加载条件对关节软骨的力-电特性也有重要影响.这可为组织工程学中人工植入压电材料治疗骨关节炎提供重要参考.

The mechano-electrical properties are one of the well-known mechanisms in articular cartilage.However,it is unknown whether mechano-electrical properties might differ in various zones of cartilage tissue.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to examine the mechanical-electrical characteristics of various articular cartilage zones and the associated influencing factors.After the application of load,the voltage signal generated by the mechano-electrical properties increased gradually from superficial to deep zone along the direction of cartilage thickness,and this mechanism can only manifest itself when there is a significant relative change in stress.Furthermore,the mechano-electrical properties of articular cartilage produce a voltage signal that increases significantly with increasing peak load and loading rate.The voltage variation laws of the mechano-electrical properties of each zone of the cartilage were then derived by fitting experimental findings to known empirical decay functions.Our results show that the differences in force-electric properties of different regions of cartilage tissue are related to the arrangement distribution of collagen fibers.Moreover,the cartilage intrinsic structure and external loading conditions have an important impact on the mechano-electrical properties of articular cartilage.This may provide an important reference for artificial implantation of piezoelectric materials in tissue engineering to treat osteoarthritis.