Objective

The human meniscus is essential in maintaining proper knee joint function. The meniscus absorbs shock, distributes loads, and stabilizes the knee joint to prevent the onset of osteoarthritis. The extent of its shock-absorbing role can be estimated by measuring the energy dissipated by the meniscus during cyclic mechanical loading.

Methods

Samples were prepared from the central and horn regions of medial and lateral human menisci from 8 donors (both knees for total of 16 samples). Cyclic compression tests at several compression strains and frequencies yielded the energy dissipated per tissue volume. A GEE regression model was used to investigate the effects of compression, meniscal side and region, and water content on energy dissipation in order to account for repeated measures within samples.

Results

Energy dissipation by the meniscus increased with compressive strain from ∼0.1 kJ/m³ (at 10% strain) to ∼10 kJ/m³ (at 20% strain) and decreased with loading frequency. Samples from the anterior region provided the largest energy dissipation when compared to central and posterior samples (P < 0.05). Water content for the 16 meniscal tissues was 77.9 (C.I. 72.0–83.8%) of the total tissue mass. A negative correlation was found between energy dissipation and water content (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The extent of energy dissipated by the meniscus is inversely related to loading frequency and meniscal water content.

中文翻译：

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人体半月板能量耗散机制及其与组织成分的关系

客观的

人体半月板对于维持正常的膝关节功能至关重要。半月板吸收震动、分散负荷并稳定膝关节以防止骨关节炎的发生。其减震作用的程度可以通过测量半月板在循环机械载荷期间消耗的能量来估计。

方法

从来自 8 个供体（双膝共 16 个样品）的内侧和外侧人半月板的中央和角区域制备样品。在几个压缩应变和频率下的循环压缩测试产生了每组织体积耗散的能量。GEE 回归模型用于研究压缩、半月板侧和区域以及水含量对能量耗散的影响，以便考虑样本内的重复测量。

结果

半月板的能量耗散随着压缩应变从 ∼0.1 kJ/m ³（在 10% 应变下）增加到 ∼10 kJ/m ³（在 20% 应变下）并随着加载频率而降低。与中央和后部样本相比，来自前部区域的样本提供了最大的能量耗散 ( P  < 0.05)。16 个半月板组织的含水量占总组织质量的 77.9 (CI 72.0–83.8%)。能量耗散与含水量呈负相关（P  < 0.05）。

结论

半月板消耗的能量程度与加载频率和半月板含水量成反比。