Quantitative ultrasound assessment of healthy and degenerated cartilage

Ultrasound (US) imaging represents a safe option for cartilage monitoring. However, at present, it is not established as an objective and quantitative evaluation method. In this work, we introduce a novel quantitative US assessment based on six radiofrequency (RF) metrics intended to discriminate between healthy and chemically degraded cartilage tissues. Bovine cartilage samples were degraded with collagenase (responsible of collagen network deterioration) and scanned with a 15 MHz US imaging probe, which allowed RF data access. Results revealed a significant reduction in the values of approximate entropy, root mean square, and sample entropy after collagenase treatment, paving the way for the use of these techniques as a future diagnostic tool for cartilage monitoring.