Wideband laser speckle rheological microscopy (SHEAR) to investigate elastic and viscous properties of tissues for orthopedic applications

The function of orthopedic tissues such as cartilage and bones are particularly susceptible to aberrant mechanical transformation, which has long been associated with changes to the solid tissue components. There is, however, a growing appreciation for the role of interstitial fluid and tissue water content in degenerative mechanical transformation associated with orthopedic diseases. Yet, the contribution of viscous fluid-like behavior to the overall mechanical integrity of orthopedic tissues remains largely unexplored. We demonstrate wideband laser Speckle rHEologicAl micRoscopy (SHEAR) that harnesses speckle fluctuation induced by natural thermal motion of native light scattering tissue structures for microrheological investigation of orthopedic tissues.