Quantitative assessment of collagen fibre architecture in articular cartilage

Knowledge of the collagen fibre network in articular cartilage is critical to the development of realistic biomechanical models that can predict tissue response to joint loading. Small-angle X-ray scattering, T2 mapping MRI and diffusion tensor imaging, are three techniques that are known to provide information on collagen fibre orientations in articular cartilage. This thesis presents an experimental evaluation of these techniques and examines their potential for quantitative assessment of the architecture of the collagen fibre network