Probing Cartilage Ultrastructure and Micromechanics in Healthy and Osteoarthritic Joints
Jul 30, 2024
2:30PM to 3:30PM
Date/Time
Date(s) - 30/07/2024
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Categories
Dr. Junning Chen
Biomedical Engineering, University of Exeter, UK
The biomechanical properties of articular cartilage are essential to its functionality, arising from the hierarchically organised extracellular matrix (ECM), which comprises a dense collagenous network interacting with interstitial fluid rich in proteoglycan. This organisation is often compromised by degenerative diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA), for which there is currently no effective treatment to reverse or cure the condition. Timely interventions to slow or prevent OA progression are crucial. However, diagnosing early OA—detecting the earliest structural changes linked to functionality in clinical practice—remains a significant challenge. Moreover, the aetiology of OA is not fully understood, and biomechanical cues are yet to be linked with tissue and cell events.
Our research aims to link the multiscale structural organisation and mechanical behaviours of articular cartilage to identify changes in the pre and early stages of degenerative conditions. Our approach combines polarisation-resolved second harmonic generation and micromechanical testing on various in vivo and ex vivo models, including surgery-induced and transgenic OA animal models. This is complemented by other techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, microCT, and x-ray scattering, to provide a comprehensive picture.
Speaker Bio:
Dr Junning Chen is a Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Exeter, UK. He received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Sydney Australia in 2015, focusing on computational modelling of bone mechanobiology to develop patient-specific design optimisation schemes and surgery planning. He was awarded postdoctoral fellowships from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Humboldt Foundation, to work at Charité and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Germany. Since joining Exeter in 2017, Junning has secured over £2.2 million in research funding and several awards from UK research councils, including EPSRC and MRC. He collaborates closely with orthopaedic surgeons, material scientists, physicists, biologists, and industry partners to integrate imaging, modelling, design, fabrication, and evaluation of biomedical technologies and biomaterials into a cohesive research framework.
In-Person: ABB 102
Online: https://mcmaster.zoom.us/j/95343590956
Meeting ID: 953 4359 0956
Passcode: 269021