Figure 3

(A) . In approximately half of aged cartilage specimens (from cadaver femoral heads) with little surface lesion (ICRS Grade 0, shown in Fig 3 (C )), the collagen fibres in the superficial zone are oriented predominantly in a direction spatially oblique to the AC surface. However, the fibres are rarely integrated the interwoven collagen bundles on the surface. (B). The corresponding MBI of the collagen network is analogous to an en face 2D image. (C). Traditional histology shows the cartilage is almost at ICRS grade 0 but it contains less proteoglycans than the normal cartilage.