Contrast-enhanced CT facilitates rapid, non-destructive assessment of cartilage and bone properties of the human metacarpal

ObjectiveThe aim of this work is to establish the human metacarpal as a new whole joint surface early-stage osteoarthritis (OA) model that enables comparisons of articular cartilage and subchondral bone through high resolution contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) imaging, mechanical testing, and biochemical analysis.DesignThe fourth metacarpal was obtained from 12 human cadaveric donors and baseline μCT imaging was followed by indentation testing. The...