Transport of neutral solute in articular cartilage: effect of microstructure anisotropy.

ABSTRACT: Due to the avascular nature of articular cartilage, solute transport through its extracellular matrix is critical for the maintenance and the functioning of the tissue. What is more, diffusion of macromolecules may be affected by the microstructure of the extracellular matrix in both undeformed and deformed cartilage and experiments demonstrate diffusion anisotropy in the case of large solute. However, these phenomena have not received sufficient theoretical attention to date. We hypothesize here that the diffusion anisotropy of macromolecules is brought about by the particular microstructure of the cartilage network. Based on this hypothesis, we then propose a mathematical model that correlates the diffusion coefficient tensor with the structural orientation tensor of the network. This mo

SUBMITTER: Zhang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2265594 | biostudies-literature | 2008

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature