Replication Data for: "Joint and tissue mechanics in post-traumatic osteoarthritis: insights from the rat model"

Destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) is widely recognized as a preclinical gold standard model for studying post-traumatic osteoarthritis, believed to cause instability and locally increased loading. However, the mechanical environment at the joint and tissue levels remains insufficiently documented. In this study, we evaluated the joint and tissue biomechanics in rats subjected to sham surgery and DMM. We collected high-fidelity experimental gait data using a setup that integrates biplanar fluoroscopy with a ground reaction force plate. Knee angles and joint-level loading were estimated through musculoskeletal modeling, using bony landmarks semi-automatically tracked via deep learning on fluoroscopic images, alongside ground reaction forces. A rat hindlimb musculoskeletal model was adapted to represent knee flexion-extension, valgus-varus, and internal-external rotation. Subsequently, the tissue-level cartilage mechanical environment was spatially estimated by inputting the musculoskeletal modeling parameters into a dedicated finite element (FE) model of the rat knee, which included cartilage and meniscal tissues.