Columbia Technology Ventures

Quantitative imaging of cartilage for early detection of osteoarthritis

This technology is a quantitative imaging assay for detecting cartilage crosslinking levels in a joint for early detection of osteoarthritis.

Unmet Need: Quantitative assay for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis

Current methods to diagnose osteoarthritis rely on detecting collagen degradation products in bodily fluids such as urine or serum. These methods are only sensitive enough to detect late stage osteoarthritis and cannot investigate a single joint, limiting opportunity for interventions prior to needing a joint replacement. Osteoarthritis causes a breakdown of collagen crosslinking in the cartilage of a joint, but there are currently no methods for directly measuring this in vivo and during the long asymptomatic early development of the disease.

The Technology: Spectroscopy assay for direct detection of collagen crosslinking in a joint

This technology is an assay that uses Raman spectroscopy arthroscopically to detect collagen crosslinking in individual joints. As such, this spectroscopy technique can generate spectral maps of crosslinking intensity to identify areas of low crosslink density. The breakdown of collagen crosslinking in the cartilage of a joint occurs in osteoarthritis, so this technology can be used in a clinical setting to track changes in a patient’s tissue over time and detect osteoarthritis in the early stages. As a result, this powerful assay provides an effective method for monitoring collagen degradation to detect osteoarthritis even before a patient becomes symptomatic.

This technology has been validated in cartilage thin-films and cartilage explants from immature cows (calves).

Applications:

  • Diagnostic assay for osteoarthritis onset
  • Assay for screening articular cartilage for injury or developmental disorders
  • Tool to clinically monitor joint health over time
  • Analysis of cartilage crosslinking response to intervention

Advantages:

  • Detection of cartilage crosslinking at individual joints
  • Early detection of diseased joints
  • Direct quantification of changes in collagen crosslinking
  • Allows tracking of individual tissue over time

Lead Inventors:

Sinisa Vukelic, Ph.D. Gerard Ateshian, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Status

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