Nondestructive Assessment of Glycosaminoglycans in Engineered Cartilages Using Hexabrix-Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography

Optimization of the incubation and washing time of Hexabrix 320 for engineered cartilages. A Tissue density of a cartilage tissue was measured using μCT analysis at indicated time points until 120 min after incubation with Hexabrix 320 (n？=？4, mean？±？SD). The result indicated that 20–30 min of Hexabrix 320 incubation was sufficient to reach an equilibration (*p？<？0.05 vs 20 min and #p？<？0.05 vs 30 min samples). B After incubation with Hexabrix 320 for 20 min, the cartilage tissue was incubated with washing medium until 30 min. The tissue density was measured using μCT at 0, 10, 20 and 30 min after washing with the washing medium changed every time. Decline of tissue density by 86% was observed at 30 min (*p？<？0.05 vs 30 min samples). No Hex represents a tissue intensity without Hexabrix treatmen