Two Types of Wear of Articular Cartilage
- Interfacial - due to interaction between bearing surfaces
- Adhesion wear - surface fragments from bearing surfaces in contact with
each other adhere and are torn away
- Abrasion wear - soft material is scraped by hard material (opposing
surface or loose particles)
- Fatigue wear
- due to accumulation of microscopic damage within the bearing
material under repetitive stress; not from surface-to-surface contact
- Bearing surface failure from repeated application of high loads over
short period of time or repetition of low loads over long period of
time
- Effective joint lubrication makes interfacial wear unlikely
under normal articular cartilage conditions
- Interfacial wear may occur in impaired or degenerated synovial
joint
Potential Methods for Articular Cartilage Degeneration
- Magnitude of imposed stresses
- Total number of sustained stress peaks
- Change in the collagen-Proteoglycan matrix
- Change in mechanical properties of the tissue