Ultrasound biomicroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging of reconstituted articular cartilage

A system based on reconstituted articular cartilage is used to facilitate evaluation of noninvasive imaging methods such as ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for assessment of osteoarthritis (OA). Chondrocytes from the superficial and deep layers of calf articular cartilage were isolated and cultured. Some cultures were treated with interleukin 1 (Il-1) and the effects on cartilage growth were studied. On days 21, 35, and 56 the cartilage cultures were examined using UBM, MRI, and histology. Cartilage thickness measured using UBM, MRI, and histology were similar with the correlation coefficients of 0.982 (P<0.0001) and 0.998 (P<0.0001) respectively. Comparisons of the UBM images with histology and MRI are presented and potential application of the real time UBM imaging of cartilage is discussed.