Cartilage Markers

Supporting early identification of cartilage damage by providing dynamic assessment of cartilage destruction

Cartilage is a strong and flexible fibrous tissue that protects your joints and bones. It has many functions within the body; including to function as a shock absorber throughout the body and providing a protective cushion between joints. Different parts of the body have a higher cartilage content – e.g. the external part of the ear is almost all made of elastic cartilage.

There are 3 main types of cartilage:

Hyaline cartilage – springy and tough, it is found between ribs, between the joints (articular cartilage) and forms the septum of the nose.
Elastic cartilage – more flexible than hyaline cartilage and found in the ear and larynx.
Fibrocartilage – inflexible form which helps to reduce friction between bones and distribute weight and is found in the knee and vertebrae.

Cartilage lacks any active blood supply which is the main reason that injury to cartilage takes longer to heal. In addition to the absence of blood supply, cartilage is aneural resulting in a lack of pain following injury or damage. In cases where pain is noted, this is typically caused by irritation of the surrounding tissues such as inflammation of joint and bone in osteoarthritis.