Electromechanics of cartilage: surface mapping, instrumentation/software development, structure/function relationships

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Articular cartilage is the white tissue covering the ends of bones allowing for joint motion and loading in daily activities. It has no nerves and no natural capacity to heal so that injury and disease of cartilage generally progresses until it is worn down to expose bone and cause pain and Arthritis. The current lack of treatments for Arthritis and cartilage disease is largely due to our inability to accurately and sensitively monitor cartilage changes in early stages of degeneration where treatments may effectively intervene. Current clinical diagnostic tools for cartilage are insufficient in terms of sensitivity and specificity and predictive value for disease progression. The group at Polytechnique are experts in the electromechanical properties and methods of monitoring electric fields produced by cartilage under load. They have invented two technologies which detect these electric fields produced in cartilage under load and shown that these measurements are very sensitive to cartilage changes, namely degeneration. These inventions have been patented and transferred to a Canadian company owned by former graduate students of Ecole Polytechnique. This project aims to continue this collaboration between the company, Biomomentum Inc, and the University to provide all of the necessary data, instrumentation and software to bring these two diagnostic instruments to commercial sale. Achieving this goal promises to expand Biomomentum's market and sales, generate significant scientific advances in cartilage science, and aid clinical and pharmaceutical communities in developing effective treatments for joint disease.