Modeling of the effect of subperiosteal hydrostatic pressure conductivity between joints on decreasing contact loads on cartilages. Floating skeleton theory

Abstract

Abstract Chronic overloading of cartilages may lead to their irreversible destruction, as seen in people with osteoarthritis. We hypothesize that overloading begins and progressing when one or more joints become isolated from the newly discovered physiological system - Floating Skeleton (FS), devoted to keeping the loads in a safe range. To demonstrate in a model experiment how subperiosteal hydrostatic pressure conductivity between joints decreases contact loads on cartilages we constructed a physical model from a commercial Ziploc bag, which walls have been glued together in its center with a small caramel plug. After pouring water in the bag, we put a standardized weight on the upper wall of the bag over the caramel plug and recorded the load transmitted to the measuring plate directly under the plug. Then, the caramel plug was dissolved so that an unobstructed water layer between the bag’s walls was restored. The same weight was placed at the same spot and the load on the measuring plate was recorded. Restoration of the water layer between the bag’s walls caused a reduction of the load. The experiments conclusively demonstrated that contact pressures can be redistributed when the conditions of the Pascal Law are met.