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13 December 2023 Broadband scattering properties of articular cartilage zones and their relationship with the heterogenous structure of articular cartilage extracellular matrix
Iman Kafian-Attari, Ervin Nippolainen, Florian Bergmann, Akuroma George, Petri Paakkari, Arash Mirhashemi, Florian Foschum, Alwin Kienle, Juha Töyräs, Isaac O. Afara
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Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 28, Issue 12, 125003 (December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.28.12.125003
Abstract

Significance

Articular cartilage exhibits a zonal architecture, comprising three distinct zones: superficial, middle, and deep. Collagen fibers, being the main solid constituent of articular cartilage, exhibit unique angular and size distribution in articular cartilage zones. There is a gap in knowledge on how the unique properties of collagen fibers across articular cartilage zones affect the scattering properties of the tissue.

Aim

This study hypothesizes that the structural properties of articular cartilage zones affect its scattering parameters. We provide scattering coefficient and scattering anisotropy factor of articular cartilage zones in the spectral band of 400 to 1400 nm. We enumerate the differences and similarities of the scattering properties of articular cartilage zones and provide reasoning for these observations.

Approach

We utilized collimated transmittance and integrating sphere measurements to estimate the scattering coefficients of bovine articular cartilage zones and bulk tissue. We used the relationship between the scattering coefficients to estimate the scattering anisotropy factor. Polarized light microscopy was applied to estimate the depth-wise angular distribution of collagen fibers in bovine articular cartilage.

Results

We report that the Rayleigh scatterers contribution to the scattering coefficients, the intensity of the light scattered by the Rayleigh and Mie scatterers, and the angular distribution of collagen fibers across tissue depth are the key parameters that affect the scattering properties of articular cartilage zones and bulk tissue. Our results indicate that in the short visible region, the superficial and middle zones of articular cartilage affect the scattering properties of the tissue, whereas in the far visible and near-infrared regions, the articular cartilage deep zone determines articular cartilage scattering properties.

Conclusion

This study provides scattering properties of articular cartilage zones. Such findings support future research to utilize optical simulation to estimate the penetration depth, depth-origin, and pathlength of light in articular cartilage for optical diagnosis of the tissue.
CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
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Iman Kafian-Attari, Ervin Nippolainen, Florian Bergmann, Akuroma George, Petri Paakkari, Arash Mirhashemi, Florian Foschum, Alwin Kienle, Juha Töyräs, and Isaac O. Afara "Broadband scattering properties of articular cartilage zones and their relationship with the heterogenous structure of articular cartilage extracellular matrix," Journal of Biomedical Optics 28(12), 125003 (13 December 2023). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.28.12.125003
Received: 22 June 2023; Accepted: 3 November 2023; Published: 13 December 2023
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KEYWORDS
Cartilage
Tissues
Collagen
Light scattering
Rayleigh scattering
Scattering
Anatomy
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