Prevention or slowing down the progression of osteoarthritis is a major challenge in health care. In osteoarthritis, articular cartilage degenerates and eventually wears out, resulting in pain and reduced joint function, ultimately leading to disability. The onset of osteoarthritis may result, for instance, from an injury of ligament, cartilage, or meniscus. However, the disease progression is patient specific and can hardly be predicted. In order to assess the articular cartilage function and possible failure sites in joints and to evaluate the osteoarthritis onset and progression, computational models have been and need to be further developed.

For any clinical application of a computer model, adequate investigation of the realistic properties of the cartilage tissue is needed. Current fibril-reinforced and biphasic models aim at mimicking articular cartilage structure and function. Cartilage models have been developed and employed to evaluate the mechanical behavior of cartilage at the cell, tissue, and joint levels, to evaluate static and dynamic tissue behavior, to explore effects of mechanical and biochemical loading, and to predict tissue remodeling, growth, and adaptation at the long time scale. The expectation is that such models may be taken to the next level, where patient-specific characteristics are incorporated in 3D models. Ultimately, they may then become clinical tools for predicting the progression of osteoarthritis and, thus, for identifying or optimizing patient-specific treatment strategies. These models could also be applied for the optimization of loading protocols in producing engineered cartilage as repair materials.

The purpose of this special issue is to present new theoretical developments in articular cartilage modeling at the cell, tissue, and joint levels. We are interested in multiscale models, models of cell-tissue interactions, matrix growth, and disease progression. Manuscripts investigating model validation are highly encouraged. We will also consider other fibrous skeletal soft tissue models, provided that they present the most recent advancements in the field. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Constitutive modeling of articular cartilage
• Chondrocyte deformation
• Cell-tissue interaction
• Matrix growth and synthesis
• Knee/hip/ankle joint models
• Fibrous skeletal soft tissue models
• Modelling cartilage tissue engineering and repair
• Modeling in diagnostics of osteoarthritis
• Adaptive models of skeletal soft tissues

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cmmm/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: