Recurring Meeting of Cleveland Clinic Core Team

Date: December 10, 2013

Time: 10:30 AM EST

Means: In person meeting

Attendees:

1. Ahmet Erdemir
2. Jason Halloran
3. Craig Bennetts
4. Snehal Chokhandre
5. Robb Colbrunn
6. Tara Bonner

Agenda:

1. Discuss tasks progress.
2. Discuss specimen transportation device design and options.
3. Discuss preparations for Martin Garon's visit next week.
4. Decide tasks for the next meeting.
5. Other.

Immediate Action Items:

See notes for details.

• Snehal

  • Get more information about candidate knee specimen, 75 years old donor (hip to toe, price).
  • Contact Dr. Winalski and Dr. Morgan to assess the X-rays of candidate specimens acquired at a frozen state without axial compression, and ask about effects of prolonged smoking on cartilage quality.
  • Reschedule Cleveland Clinic - University of Utah conference call.
  • Prepare samples, clamps, etc. for Biomomentum, Inc. demo.

• Robb

  • Request quotes from Biomomentum, Inc.

• Jason

  • Contact Tekscan (to ask about triggers and automation, manual control specifications,sensors).

• Craig and Snehal

  • Contact machine shop to get PVC and foam pieces machined for specimen transportation device. Also get quotes.

• Jason and Snehal

  • Check whether the coordinate system for the MRI machine remains consistent between scans (for the same stationary specimen).

• Jason, Snehal and Craig

  • Get a transportation device prototype made and set up an imaging session at the University Hospitals.

• Craig, Snehal and Tara

  • Check the compatibility of sample materials (to replace brass marker components) with bone cement.

• All

  • Read specimen preparation and registration pages and make necessary edits.
  • Review the data structure document updated by Robb in the wiki pages of experimentation infrastructure.

Notes:

1. Discuss task progress.
   • Immediate action items from previous meeting were discussed.
     • Snehal sent the mechanical testing machine configurations to Robb.
     • Craig acquired PVC and foam samples.
     • Ahmet reviewed and edited the specimen preparation and registration pages.
     • Robb and Jason edited the joint testing specifications.
     • Snehal obtained a tendon sample and successfully cut it with a cryostat.
   • Specimen acquisition.
     • Science Care, Inc. sent information regarding three potential specimens. X-rays were also provided but acquired at a frozen state.
     • Two of the specimens did not meet the age and weight criteria and the third specimen was deemed unusable by Science Care, Inc. following laboratory tests.
     • For future, X-rays on fresh specimens with axial loading were requested.
     • The team needs to check the effects of smoking on the tissue health (cartilage in particular).
     • Snehal will check with Robb and Tara whether any other knee specimens will be available to swap if both left and right knees from the same donor are purchased.
   • Cloud computing prototype specifications.
     • Craig will provide a results retrieval interface prototype design.
     • Ahmet will prepare a similar interface prototype for administration panel; potentially it will be similar to user interface with additional privileges to add models.
   • Imaging specifications.
     • University Hospital engineers are working on implementing the 3D DESS and MESE protocols. Once ready, the previously used knee specimen will be imaged using these protocols.
     • Alternative materials to replace the brass marker components will also be imaged to check for any artifacts. These material samples will also be tested for compatibility with bone cement.
     • A working prototype for the specimen transportation device will be built before the next imaging session.
     • The team needs to check whether the image coordinate system remains unchanged, if the specimen is not moved between scans. Theoretically, it should.
   • Joint testing specifications.
     • Robb added a detailed data structure information document on experimentation infrastructure page which is relevant to both tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joint testing.
     • Patellofemoral joint testing.
       • Robb and Tara will update the tendon clamp preparation for patellofemoral joint testing, possibly in the specimen preparation page.
       • Jason addressed Ahmet's queries about the patellofemoral joint testing operating procedure. The discussion will be written up as a description.
       • Testing timeline was modified by Jason.
       • For pressure measurments, one needs to verify that the sensor is approximately centered. This can be achieved manually at 20 N loading state. Pressure measurement are manual; once a desired load is reached, data is collected for 5 secs along with kinematic data. This can be automated and the team will discuss this further. Information on trigger and pause (automation of processes) functionality will be requested from Tekscan, Inc. to support automation.
   • Specimen preparation and registration.
     • Ahmet summarized the workflow based on the flowchart.
     • The motion analysis marker setup may bend (for example at the brass plug-bone attachment) during transportation. Distance between some points on the sensor and a set of points on the bone (or some other location) can be measured before and after transportation (for MRI) to ensure there was no deformation of the set up.
     • Points on patella registration markers (using the 3D printed attachment) cannot be picked on the surface. Rather, the registration between imaging data and digitized marker data rely on points picked in notches made on the surface of 3D printed triangular prism. The relationship between the locations of these notches and sphere centers (based on 3D drawings) may have errors, which need to be quantified.
2. Discuss specimen transportation device design and options.
   • Craig and Snehal will contact machine shop to discuss potential design and material alternatives.
3. Discuss preparations for Martin Garon's visit next week.
   • Snehal will prepare the test samples for demo.
   • Robb will get the quotes for all potential configurations.
4. Decide tasks for the next meeting.
   • See Immediate Action Items and notes above for details.
5. Other.
   • Ahmet suggested the team members to explore the data available through the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). Imaging data for numerous subjects along with biomarkers and clinical outcome measures are freely available. The group will meet in the future to discuss the potential utility of the this database for synergistic research activities in knee biomechanics. Data organization / logistics used by OAI can provide useful guidelines for Open Knee data organization and dissemination.