Infrared spectroscopy is suitable for objective assessment of articular cartilage health

V Virtanen; V Tafintseva; R Shaikh; E Nippolainen; J Haas; I O Afara; J Töyräs; H Kröger; J Solheim; B Zimmermann; A Kohler; B Mizaikoff; M Finnilä; L Rieppo; S Saarakkala

doi:10.1016/j.ocarto.2022.100250

Infrared spectroscopy is suitable for objective assessment of articular cartilage health

Osteoarthr Cartil Open. 2022 Mar 9;4(2):100250. doi: 10.1016/j.ocarto.2022.100250. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

V Virtanen¹, V Tafintseva², R Shaikh³, E Nippolainen³, J Haas^{4

5}, I O Afara^{3

6}, J Töyräs^{3

7}, H Kröger⁸, J Solheim², B Zimmermann², A Kohler², B Mizaikoff^{4

5}, M Finnilä¹, L Rieppo¹, S Saarakkala^{1

9}

Affiliations

¹ Research Unit of Medical Imaging, Physics and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
² Faculty of Science and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
³ Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Campus, Kuopio, Finland.
⁴ Institute of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
⁵ Hahn-Schickard, Ulm, Germany.
⁶ School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
⁷ Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
⁸ Department of Orthopedics, Traumatology and Hand Surgery, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
⁹ Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy to detect cartilage degradation due to osteoarthritis and to validate the methodology with osteochondral human cartilage samples for future development towards clinical use.

Design: Cylindrical (d = 4 mm) osteochondral samples (n = 349) were prepared from nine human cadavers and measured with FTIR-ATR spectroscopy. Afterwards, the samples were assessed with Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) osteoarthritis cartilage histopathology assessment system and divided into two groups: 1) healthy (OARSI 0-2) and 2) osteoarthritic (OARSI 2.5-6). The classification was done with partial least squares discriminant analysis model utilizing cross-model validation. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was performed and the area under curve (AUC) was calculated.

Results: For all samples combined, classification accuracy was 73% with AUC of 0.79. Femoral samples had accuracy of 74% and AUC of 0.77, while tibial samples had accuracy of 66%, and AUC of 0.74. Patellar samples had accuracy of 84% and AUC of 0.91.

Conclusions: The results indicate that FTIR-ATR spectroscopy can differentiate between healthy and osteoarthritic femoral, tibial and patellar human tissue. If combined with a fiber optic probe, FTIR-ATR spectroscopy could provide additional objective intraoperative information during arthroscopic surgeries, which could improve clinical outcomes.

Keywords: Arthroscopy; Cartilage; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; Osteoarthritis.