Dr. Wendy Krause, Associate Professor in Textile Engineering, studies synovial fluid, which lubricates human joint cartilage. Her research team blended a synthetic synovial fluid to model changes to the fluid found in arthritic joints. "If we can understand the role and importance of the different systems affected by osteoarthritis," she says, "the design of better, targeted treatments might be possible." Here, Dr. Krause is placing samples of synovial fluid into a nanoindenter to test the changes in friction produced by variations in proteins in the fluid. Read more...
