Journal article
Lubrication of articular cartilage
Physics Today, Vol.71(4), pp.48-54
Apr/2018
Abstract
Imagine supporting a 1-ton weight on your hand and then sliding it along the palm with a slight push of a finger. Pulling off that trick would require, roughly, the level of lubrication that is provided by cartilage surfaces in the major joints of our bodies. Those joints, which enable rotation (or more precisely, articulation) at shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, are remarkable structures. Indeed, the articular cartilage layers that coat the ends of the bones and slide past each other as we flex our joints are the most efficiently lubricated surfaces in nature. No manmade material can match the ultralow sliding friction, which is a consequence of the lubrication, that cartilage provides at the high pressures and low velocities that our joints experience. Such low friction is essential for their health, as they withstand varied harsh and complex loading, day after day, over a human lifetime.
Details
- Title
- Lubrication of articular cartilage
- Creators
- Sabrina Jahn - 972WIS_INST___98Jacob Klein - 972WIS_INST___98
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Physics Today, Vol.71(4), pp.48-54; Apr/2018
- Number of pages
- 7
- Language
- English
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1063/PT.3.3898
- Grant note
- We thank Tonia Vincent, Charles McCutchen, Alan Grodzinsky, and Duncan Dowson for useful discussions and the European Research Council, the Israel Science Foundation, and the McCutchen Foundation for support.
- Record Identifier
- 993025820303596
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