Correlation of collagen organization with polarization sensitive imaging of in vitro cartilage: implications for osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a new method of high resolution imaging, has shown feasibility for assessing articular cartilage to identify early changes in osteoarthritis (OA) and monitor therapy. OCT is analogous to ultrasound, measuring the intensity of backreflected infrared ligh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of rheumatology 2001-06, Vol.28 (6), p.1311-1318
Main Authors: DREXLER, Wolfgang, STAMPER, Debra, JESSER, Christine, XINGDE LI, PITRIS, Costas, SAUNDERS, Kathleen, MARTIN, Scott, LODGE, Mary Brighid, FUJIMOTO, James G, BREZINSKI, Mark E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Cartilage, Articular - chemistry
Cartilage, Articular - pathology
Collagen - analysis
Humans
In Vitro Techniques
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Medical sciences
Osteoarthritis - pathology
Osteoarticular system. Muscles
Pathology. Cytology. Biochemistry. Spectrometry. Miscellaneous investigative techniques
Tomography - methods
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Summary:OBJECTIVE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a new method of high resolution imaging, has shown feasibility for assessing articular cartilage to identify early changes in osteoarthritis (OA) and monitor therapy. OCT is analogous to ultrasound, measuring the intensity of backreflected infrared light rather than sound. The resolution of this technology is up to 25 times higher than existing methods. We investigated the correlation between changes observed by OCT and the degree of collagen organization in OA cartilage. METHODS: Polarization sensitive OCT (PSOCT) imaging was used to assess changes in cartilage collagen organization in vitro. RESULTS: The presence (or absence) of PSOCT changes correlated with collagen organization (or disorganization) on histology as assessed by picrosirius polarization microscopy (no significant difference). In multiple cases, cartilage was abnormal by both PSOCT and polarization microscopy, but was grossly normal by routine staining, showing cartilage thickness > 2 mm and no fibrillations. CONCLUSION: This in vitro study suggests PSOCT changes in cartilage are due to the state of collagen organization. The combination of high resolution structural imaging and birefringence detection make OCT a potentially powerful technology for early assessment of OA.
ISSN:0315-162X
1499-2752