![]() This study aimed to establish if, and to what extent, sliding-induced tribological rehydration is conserved in articular cartilage across a number of preclinical animal species/models and diarthrodial joints. Our recent ex vivo studies of cartilage sliding biomechanics using the convergent stationary contact area (cSCA) configuration, first introduced by Dowson and colleagues, unexpectedly demonstrated that sliding alone can promote interstitial pressure and lubrication recovery lost to static compression through a mechanism termed ‘tribological rehydration.’ Although exclusively examined in bovine stifle cartilage to date, we hypothesized that tribological rehydration, i.e., the ability to recover/modulate tissue strains and lubrication through sliding, is a universal articular cartilage behavior. These biomechanical capabilities are fundamentally tied to tissue hydration, whereby high interstitial fluid pressures and fluid load support facilitate maintenance of low tissue strains and frictions. The results highlight a deeper connection between the cartilage friction and the lubrication film formation, which allows for better understanding of the cartilage lubrication mechanism.Īrticular cartilage is a robust tissue that facilitates load distribution and wear-free articulation in diarthrodial joints. A decreasing trend of protein cluster count, which corresponds to a decrease in the thickness of the lubrication film, is found in all experiments. The results show a more significant impact of albumin proteins on the lubrication process, whereas its clusters create a more stable lubrication layer. The primary results explaining a connection between lubrication and friction are presented. The experiments with cartilage samples and model synovial fluid are carried out, and the new software is applied to provide their evaluation. The evaluation software and the follow-up evaluation procedure are also described. The software allowing for snaps processing and subsequent evaluation of fluorescence records is developed. A newly developed device, a reciprocating tribometer, is used to allow for simultaneous measurement of friction forces with contact visualization by fluorescence microscopy. This can contribute to better understanding of lubricating film formation in a natural synovial joint. The present paper deals with a new method for visualization of lubricating film with simultaneous measurements of the friction coefficient. The right functioning of natural synovial joints ensures well lubricated contact surfaces with a very low friction coefficient and wear of cartilage tissue. A healthy natural synovial joint is very important for painless active movement of the natural musculoskeletal system.
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