Digital speckle correlation method: a technique to evaluate the tensile property of articular cartilage

To establish a new technique for evaluation of the tensile property of articular cartilage using digital speckle correlation method (DSCM). Three specimens of whole layer articular cartilage of the size of 10 mm x 4 mm were prepared from the cartilage of head of femur replaced from a 52-year-old male suffering from fracture of neck of femur (old control), the amputated tibia plateau of a 16-year-old female suffering from osteosarcoma (young control), and the cartilage of head of femur of a 19-year-old female suffering from spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia tarda with progressive arthropathy (SEDT-PA) and then underwent DSCM in U and V fields. The specimens of the 2 controls showed a smooth surface of cartilage and homologous deformation while the specimen of the SEDT-PA patient showed a rough surface of cartilage and deformation with increased undulation. Under a changed loading of 3.3 N the values of average strain of cartilage were 3800, 8800, and 9500 micro epsilon, and the values of tensile elastic modularity