Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : September 09, 2018 - September 12, 2018
It is known that the coefficient of friction between articular cartilages is extremely low. And although the structure and constituents of the joints are known, the mechanism of lowering the coefficient of friction is not known. We experimentally reproduce the joints using the articular cartilage tissue model and pseudo joint fluids, and verify the combined lubrication effect. As a method, a chondrocyte-agarose complex prepared by seeding chondrocytes isolated from bovine cartilage tissue on an agarose gel is cultured in a CO2 incubator, ECM are produced by chondrocytes during the culturing period, and accumulated in the agarose gel. The friction characteristics of the surface are evaluated under a slight load with simulatedly prepared synovial fluid as a lubricant. As a result, those with ECM were relatively lower in friction coefficient. However, problems such as lack of ECM and vertical loads not so stable are found.
