Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees
Abstract The functional relationship between bone and cartilage is modulated by mechanical factors. Scarce data exist on the relationship between bone shape and the spatial distribution of cartilage thickness. The aim of the study was to characterise the coupled variation in knee bone morphology and...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15585-w |
| _version_ | 1828774637747568640 |
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| author | Marco Tien-Yueh Schneider Nynke Rooks Thor Besier |
| author_facet | Marco Tien-Yueh Schneider Nynke Rooks Thor Besier |
| author_sort | Marco Tien-Yueh Schneider |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The functional relationship between bone and cartilage is modulated by mechanical factors. Scarce data exist on the relationship between bone shape and the spatial distribution of cartilage thickness. The aim of the study was to characterise the coupled variation in knee bone morphology and cartilage thickness distributions in knees with healthy cartilage and investigate this relationship as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age. MR images of 51 knees from young adults (28.4 ± 4.1 years) were obtained from a previous study and used to train a statistical shape model of the femur, tibia, and patella and their cartilages. Five multiple linear regression models were fitted to characterise morphology as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age. A logistic regression classifier was fitted to characterise morphological differences between males and females, and tenfold cross-validation was performed to evaluate the models’ performance. Our results showed that cartilage thickness and its distribution were coupled to bone morphology. The first five shape modes captured over 90% of the variance and described coupled changes to the bone and spatial distribution of cartilage thickness. Mode 1 (size) was correlated to sex (p < 0.001) and height (p < 0.0001). Mode 2 (aspect ratio) was also correlated to sex (p = 0.006) and height (p = 0.017). Mode 4 (condylar depth) was correlated to sex only (p = 0.024). A logistic regression model trained on modes 1, 2, and 4 could classify sex with an accuracy of 92.2% (95% CI [81.1%, 97.8%]). No other modes were influenced by sex, height, body mass, or age. This study demonstrated the coupled relationship between bone and cartilage, showing that cartilage is thicker with increased bone size, diaphysis size, and decreased femoral skew. Our results show that sex and height influence bone shape and the spatial distribution of cartilage thickness in a healthy young adult population, but body mass and age do not. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:24:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4bd76fb7e65f4450a8fff0777b30a400 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T15:24:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-4bd76fb7e65f4450a8fff0777b30a4002022-12-22T01:00:14ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-07-011211910.1038/s41598-022-15585-wCartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult kneesMarco Tien-Yueh Schneider0Nynke Rooks1Thor Besier2Auckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of AucklandAuckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of AucklandAuckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of AucklandAbstract The functional relationship between bone and cartilage is modulated by mechanical factors. Scarce data exist on the relationship between bone shape and the spatial distribution of cartilage thickness. The aim of the study was to characterise the coupled variation in knee bone morphology and cartilage thickness distributions in knees with healthy cartilage and investigate this relationship as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age. MR images of 51 knees from young adults (28.4 ± 4.1 years) were obtained from a previous study and used to train a statistical shape model of the femur, tibia, and patella and their cartilages. Five multiple linear regression models were fitted to characterise morphology as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age. A logistic regression classifier was fitted to characterise morphological differences between males and females, and tenfold cross-validation was performed to evaluate the models’ performance. Our results showed that cartilage thickness and its distribution were coupled to bone morphology. The first five shape modes captured over 90% of the variance and described coupled changes to the bone and spatial distribution of cartilage thickness. Mode 1 (size) was correlated to sex (p < 0.001) and height (p < 0.0001). Mode 2 (aspect ratio) was also correlated to sex (p = 0.006) and height (p = 0.017). Mode 4 (condylar depth) was correlated to sex only (p = 0.024). A logistic regression model trained on modes 1, 2, and 4 could classify sex with an accuracy of 92.2% (95% CI [81.1%, 97.8%]). No other modes were influenced by sex, height, body mass, or age. This study demonstrated the coupled relationship between bone and cartilage, showing that cartilage is thicker with increased bone size, diaphysis size, and decreased femoral skew. Our results show that sex and height influence bone shape and the spatial distribution of cartilage thickness in a healthy young adult population, but body mass and age do not.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15585-w |
| spellingShingle | Marco Tien-Yueh Schneider Nynke Rooks Thor Besier Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees Scientific Reports |
| title | Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees |
| title_full | Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees |
| title_fullStr | Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees |
| title_short | Cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex, height, body mass, and age in young adult knees |
| title_sort | cartilage thickness and bone shape variations as a function of sex height body mass and age in young adult knees |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15585-w |
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