Computed Tomography-Mediated Registration of Trapeziometacarpal Articular Cartilage Using Intraarticular Optical Coherence Tomography and Cryomicrotome Imaging: A Cadaver Study

Objective Accurate, high-resolution imaging of articular cartilage thickness is an important clinical challenge in patients with osteoarthritis, especially in small joints. In this study, computed tomography (CT) mediated catheter-based optical coherence tomography (OCT) was utilized to create a digital reconstruction of the articular surface of the trapeziometacarpal (TMC) joint and to assess cartilage thickness in comparison to cryomicrotome data. Design Using needle-based introduction of the OCT probe, the articular surface of the TMC joint of 5 cadaver wrists was scanned in different probe positions with matching CT scans to record the intraarticular probe trajectory. Subsequently and based on the acquired CT data, 3-dimensional realignment of the OCT data to the curved intraarticular trajectory was performed for all probe positions. The scanned TMC joints were processed using a cryomicrotome imaging system. Finally, cartilage thickness measurements between OCT and cryomicrotome data were compared. Results Successful visualization of TMC articular cartilage was performed using OCT. The CT-mediated registration yielded a digital reconstruction of the articular surface on which thickness measurements could be performed. A near-perfect agreement between OCT and cryomicrotome thickness measurements was found (r(2) = 0.989). Conclusion The proposed approach enables 3D reconstruction of the TMC articular surface with subsequent accurate cartilage thickness measurements, encouraging the development of intraarticular cartilage OCT for future (clinical) application.

Automated summary

This study utilized CT-mediated catheter-based optical coherence tomography to digitally reconstruct the articular surface of the TMC joint and assess cartilage thickness in comparison to cryomicrotome data. The results showed a near-perfect agreement between OCT and cryomicrotome thickness measurements. This approach enables accurate cartilage thickness measurements and encourages the development of intraarticular cartilage OCT for future clinical application.