Optical coherence tomography enables accurate measurement of equine cartilage thickness for determination of speed of sound

Background and purpose — Arthroscopic estimation of articular cartilage thickness is important for scoring of lesion severity, and measurement of cartilage speed of sound (SOS)—a sensitive index of changes in cartilage composition. We investigated the accuracy of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in measurements of cartilage thickness and determined SOS by combining OCT thickness and ultrasound (US) time-of-flight (TOF) measurements. Material and methods — Cartilage thickness measurements from OCT and microscopy images of 94 equine osteochondral samples were compared. Then, SOS in cartilage was determined using simultaneous OCT thickness and US TOF measurements. SOS was then compared with the compositional, structural, and mechanical properties of cartilage. Results — Measurements of non-calcified cartilage thickness using OCT and microscopy were significantly correlated (ρ = 0.92; p <0.001). With calcified cartilage included, the correlation was ρ = 0.85 (p