Department of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, 2900 Boul. Edouard-Montpetit, Montreal, QC, H3C 3A7, Canada.
Biomomentum Inc., 970 Michelin St. Suite 200, Laval, QC, H7L 5C1, Canada.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2017 Oct;45(10):2410-2421. doi: 10.1007/s10439-017-1879-4. Epub 2017 Jun 26.
Quantitative assessments of articular cartilage function are needed to aid clinical decision making. Our objectives were to develop a new electromechanical grade to assess quantitatively cartilage quality and test its reliability. Electromechanical properties were measured using a hand-held electromechanical probe on 200 human articular surfaces from cadaveric donors and osteoarthritic patients. These data were used to create a reference electromechanical property database and to compare with visual arthroscopic International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grading of cartilage degradation. The effect of patient-specific and location-specific characteristics on electromechanical properties was investigated to construct a continuous and quantitative electromechanical grade analogous to ICRS grade. The reliability of this novel grade was assessed by comparing it with ICRS grades on 37 human articular surfaces. Electromechanical properties were not affected by patient-specific characteristics for each ICRS grade, but were significantly different across the articular surface. Electromechanical properties varied linearly with ICRS grade, leading to a simple linear transformation from one scale to the other. The electromechanical grade correlated strongly with ICRS grade (r = 0.92, p < 0.0001). Additionally, the electromechanical grade detected lesions that were not found visually. This novel grade can assist the surgeon in assessing human knee cartilage by providing a quantitative and reliable grading system.
需要对关节软骨功能进行定量评估，以辅助临床决策。我们的目标是开发一种新的机电分级方法，对软骨质量进行定量评估并对其可靠性进行测试。使用手持式机电探头对 200 个人体关节表面（来自尸体供体和骨关节炎患者）进行了机电性能测量。这些数据用于创建参考机电性能数据库，并与关节镜下国际软骨修复学会 (ICRS) 评估的软骨退化的分级进行比较。研究了患者特异性和位置特异性特征对机电性能的影响，以构建类似于 ICRS 分级的连续定量机电分级。通过将其与 37 个人体关节表面的 ICRS 分级进行比较，评估了这种新型分级的可靠性。对于每个 ICRS 分级，机电性能不受患者特异性特征的影响，但在关节表面上有显著差异。机电性能与 ICRS 分级呈线性变化，因此可以通过简单的线性转换从一个尺度转换到另一个尺度。机电分级与 ICRS 分级高度相关（r=0.92，p<0.0001）。此外，该机电分级还能检测到肉眼无法发现的病变。这种新型分级可以通过提供定量和可靠的分级系统，帮助外科医生评估人类膝关节软骨。
