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The Knee

The knee is one of the most common joints in which the arthroscope is used. The knee is very accessible and the joint is directly under the skin, so a small hole allows the scope to go directly into the knee.

	The modern arthroscope is very small allowing for placement through an incision about 1/8 inch. The tiny video camera connects to a high resolution video screen. Pictures and movies can be taken. These are before and after pictures of the undersurface of the patella (knee-cap). The first image shows damage and softening of the cartilage. The second is after shaving and use of the Oratec device.

The entire knee can be thoroughly examined through the arthroscope. Inside the knee, there are three layers of cartilage. Two of these layers are articular cartilage, which is a small layer of cartilage applied directly to the end of the bones and often referred to as the teflon of the knee.

Normal articular cartilage and meniscal cartilage is very shiny and smooth. The cartilage in this knee is very healthy, but there is a traumatic tear of the meniscus.

In between these two layers of articular cartilage is the meniscal cartilage which is the cartilage that is often thought of when a torn cartilage in the knee is mentioned.