Table 5.
Finite element models predicted the sampling efficiency in each cartilage, bone and marrow. Data from marrow are not shown because they accounted for less than 0.1% of the total value in all cases. The numerical sum of the sampling efficiency from every node in each region is listed, and percent of the sampling efficiency is in parenthesis. In all cases, cartilage is sampled with greater efficiency than bone. As expected, the lowest bone-to-cartilage sampling ratio was observed in the thick cartilage/high scattering model simulating intact healthy cartilage and the highest bone-to-cartilage sampling ratio was observed in thin cartilage/low scattering model simulating eroded cartilage.
| Sampling Efficiency | Bone | Cartilage | Bone-to-Cartilage (ratio) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thick Cartilage | High scattering | 0.173 (3.13%) | 5.361 (96.87%) | 0.03 |
| Low scattering | 0.141 (12.62%) | 0.975 (87.37%) | 0.14 | |
| Thin Cartilage | High scattering | 1.352 (17.22%) | 6.496 (82.77%) | 0.21 |
| Low scattering | 0.649 (31.52%) | 1.410 (68.45%) | 0.46 | |
a
Footnote text.