Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan.
Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2022 Aug;21(4):1145-1155. doi: 10.1007/s10237-022-01581-6. Epub 2022 Apr 28.
A better understanding of the time-dependent biomechanical behaviour of the biphasic hip articular cartilage (AC) under physiological loadings is important to understand the onset of joint pathology and guide the clinical treatment. Current computational studies for the biphasic hip AC were usually limited to short-term duration or using elaborate loading. The present study aimed to develop a multiscale computational modelling to investigate the long-term biphasic behaviour of the hip AC under physiological loadings over multiple gait cycles. Two-scale computational modelling including a musculoskeletal model and a finite element model of the natural hip was created. These two models were then combined and used to investigate the biphasic behaviour of hip AC over 80 gait cycles. The results showed that the interstitial fluid pressure in the AC supported over 89% of the loading during gait. When the contact area was located at the AC centre, the contact pressure and fluid pressure increased over time from the first cycle to the 80th cycle, while when the contact area approached the edge, these pressures decreased first dramatically and then slowly over time. The peak stresses and strains in the solid matrix of the AC remained at a low level and increased over time from the first cycle to the 80th cycle. This study demonstrated that the long-term temporal variations of the biphasic behaviour of hip AC under physiological loadings are significant. The methodology has potentially important implications in the biomechanical studies of human cartilage and supporting the development of cartilage substitution.
更好地理解生理负荷下双相髋关节软骨（AC）的时变生物力学行为对于理解关节病变的发生和指导临床治疗非常重要。目前，双相髋 AC 的计算研究通常限于短期或使用复杂的加载。本研究旨在开发一种多尺度计算模型，以研究生理负荷下双相髋 AC 在多个步态周期中的长期行为。建立了包括肌肉骨骼模型和天然髋关节有限元模型的两尺度计算模型。然后将这两个模型结合起来，用于研究 80 个步态周期以上的髋 AC 的双相行为。结果表明，AC 中的间质液压力在步态过程中支撑了超过 89%的载荷。当接触面积位于 AC 中心时，接触压力和流体压力从第一周期到第 80 周期随时间增加，而当接触面积接近边缘时，这些压力先急剧下降，然后随时间缓慢下降。AC 固体基质中的峰值应力和应变保持在较低水平，并随时间从第一周期增加到第 80 周期。这项研究表明，生理负荷下髋 AC 的双相行为的长期时间变化是显著的。该方法在人类软骨的生物力学研究和支持软骨替代物的开发方面具有潜在的重要意义。
