osteoarthritis after meniscectomy	Researchers		Joe Haemer
			Yongnam Song
			Nicholas Giori
			Dennis Carter

This study’s objective is to understand how a knee meniscectomy leads to degenerative changes in articular cartilage. Toward this objective, the study asks: How does meniscectomy alter the surface contact area and contact pressures within the knee? How do altered contact area and pressures affect stresses and strains within the articular cartilage? How would the stresses and strains within the cartilage influence surface failure and tissue development? How do predictions of tissue development and failure map to degenerative changes seen in animal models?

To answer these questions, our research utilizes experimental and numerical analyses to understand how the mechanics of meniscectomy lead to the tissue degeneration of OA. These analyses include three dimensional imaging and direct measurement of mechanically loaded cartilage deformation (below), experimental measurement of contact pressures within the knee (image to the left), and finite element modeling of the knee under dynamic loading conditions.