3D morphometric analysis of calcified cartilage properties using micro-computed tomography

S. Kauppinen*, S. S. Karhula, J. Thevenot, Tuomo Ylitalo, L. Rieppo, I. Kestilä, M. Haapea, I. Hadjab, M. A. Finnilä, E. Quenneville, M. Garon, H. K. Gahunia, K. P.H. Pritzker, M. D. Buschmann, H. J. Nieminen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

Objective: Our aim is to establish methods for quantifying morphometric properties of calcified cartilage (CC) from micro-computed tomography (mu CT). Furthermore, we evaluated the feasibility of these methods in investigating relationships between osteoarthritis (OA), tidemark surface morphology and open subchondral channels (OSCCs).

Method: Samples (n = 15) used in this study were harvested from human lateral tibial plateau (n = 8). Conventional roughness and parameters assessing local 3-dimensional (3D) surface variations were used to quantify the surface morphology of the CC. Subchondral channel properties (percentage, density, size) were also calculated. As a reference, histological sections were evaluated using Histopathological osteoarthritis grading (OARSI) and thickness of CC and subchondral bone (SCB) was quantified.

Results: OARSI grade correlated with a decrease in local 3D variations of the tidemark surface (amount of different surface patterns (r(s) = -0.600, P = 0.018), entropy of patterns (EP) (r(s) = -0.648, P = 0.018), homogeneity index (HI) (r(s) = 0.555, P = 0.032)) and tidemark roughness (TMR) (r(s) = -0.579, P = 0.024). Amount of different patterns (ADP) and EP associated with channel area fraction (CAF) (r(p) = 0.876, P <0.0001; r(p) = 0.665, P = 0.007, respectively) and channel density (CD) (r(p) = 0.680, P = 0.011; r(p) = 0.582, P = 0.023, respectively). TMR was associated with CAF (r(p) = 0.926, P <0.0001) and average channel size (r(p) = 0.574, P = 0.025). CC topography differed statistically significantly in early OA vs healthy samples.

Conclusion: We introduced a mu-CT image method to quantify 3D CC topography and perforations through CC. CC topography was associated with OARSI grade and OSCC properties; this suggests that the established methods can detect topographical changes in tidemark and CC perforations associated with OA. (c) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Osteoarthritis Research Society International. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)172-180
Number of pages9
JournalOsteoarthritis and Cartilage
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Calcified cartilage
  • Micro-computed tomography
  • Morphology
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Roughness
  • Tidemark

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