Fractional-order elastic models of cartilage: A multi-scale approach

The objective of this research is to develop new quantitative methods to describe the elastic properties (e.g., shear modulus, viscosity) of biological tissues such as cartilage. Cartilage is a connective tissue that provides the lining for most of the joints in the body. Tissue histology of cartilage reveals a multi-scale architecture that spans a wide range from individual collagen and proteoglycan molecules to families of twisted macromolecular fibers and fibrils, and finally to a network of cells and extracellular matrix that form layers in the connective tissue. The principal cells in cartilage are chondrocytes that function at the microscopic scale by creating nano-scale networks of proteins whose biomechanical properties are ultimately expressed at the macroscopic scale in the tissue’s viscoelasticity. The challenge for the bioengineer is to develop multi-scale modeling tools that predict the three-dimensional macro-scale mechanical performance of cartilage from micro-scale models. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MR elastography (MRE) provide a basis for developing such models based on the nondestructive biomechanical assessment of cartilage in vitro and in vivo. This approach, for example, uses MRI to visualize developing proto-cartilage structure, MRE to characterize the shear modulus of such structures, and fractional calculus to describe the dynamic behavior. Such models can be extended using hysteresis modeling to account for the non-linear nature of the tissue. These techniques extend the existing computational methods to predict stiffness and strength, to assess short versus long term load response, and to measure static versus dynamic response to mechanical loads over a wide range of frequencies (50–1500 Hz). In the future, such methods can perhaps be used to help identify early changes in regenerative connective tissue at the microscopic scale and to enable more effective diagnostic monitoring of the onset of disease.