J Korean Orthop Res Soc.  2002 Oct;5(2):93-99.

Optical Coherence Tomography Analysis of the Rabbit Articular Cartilage after Chondrocyte Transplantation

• Han CW
• Kim JY
• Choi WS
• Kim CK
• Lee JH
• Pan Y

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the ability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to provide real-time, high-resolution structural analysis of the full thickness rabbit articular repair tissue following chondrocyte transplantation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Full thickness articular cartilage defects were created in the patellar grooves of the distal femur of 30 adult rabbit knee joints. Allogenic cultured chondrocytes embedded in collagen gels were implanted into the surgical defects. Six animals per time point were sacrificed at 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks after surgery. The repair tissues were sequentially analyzed by arthroscopic surface imaging, OCT, and histology.
RESULTS
OCT was able to identify the bone and cartilage interface in normal rabbit articular cartilage and regenerated cartilage at 24 weeks post chondrocyte implantation. OCT was able to identify fine surface fibrillations at 24 weeks. More importantly, OCT was able to detect the embedded gaps between the repair tissue and surrounding cartilage.
CONCLUSION
OCT provides a minimal invasive means to obtain an instant "optical biopsy" of the rabbit articular repair tissue without damaging the specimen.

Keyword

Chondrocyte transplantation; Cartilage regeneration; Optical coherence tomography; Opticalbiopsy

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
Cartilage
Cartilage, Articular*
Chondrocytes*
Collagen
Femur
Gels
Humans
Knee Joint
Tomography, Optical Coherence*
Collagen
Gels