ArticlePloS one2015
Real-time visualization of joint cavitation.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of audible pops associated with spinal manipulation on perceived pain: a systematic review.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2022Pooled it
- Deep Learning Assisted Outer Volume Removal for Highly-Accelerated Real-Time Dynamic MRI.ArXiv · 2025Article
- Do Audible Sounds During a Metacarpophalangeal and Metatarsophalangeal Thrust Manipulation Have an Impact on Intra-Articular Joint Space and Brainwave Activity?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage and inflammation in conjunction with high-altitude decompression in adults.Physiological reports · 2024Article
- Do Audible Sounds during a Lumbar Spine Thrust Manipulation Have an Impact on Brainwave Activity?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Review
- Cine magnetic resonance imaging in evaluating retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma arising from the inferior vena cava.IJU case reports · 2024Article
- Article
- An investigation into the chiropractic practice and communication of routine repetitive radiographic imaging for the location of postural misalignments.Journal of clinical imaging science · 2024Review
- Bimodal buckling governs human fingers' luxation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- What is manipulation? A new definition.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Review
- Arthroscopic Femoral and Acetabular Osteoplasties Alter the In Vivo Hip Kinematics of Patients With Femoroacetabular Impingement.Arthroscopy, sports medicine, and rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of spinal manipulation: a cross-sectional survey of Italian physiotherapists.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2022Article
- Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2022Review
- Differences in force-time parameters and electromyographic characteristics of two high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulations following one another in quick succession.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2020Article
- Cavitation in soft matter.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2020Article
- Ultrasonographic findings of shoulder teno-muscular structures in symptomatic and asymptomatic dogs.Journal of ultrasound · 2018Article
- A Mathematical Model for the Sounds Produced by Knuckle Cracking.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Noise around the Knee.Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2018Review
- Joint Manipulation: Toward a General Theory of High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Thrust Techniques.Journal of chiropractic humanities · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cracking sounds emitted from human synovial joints have been attributed historically to the sudden collapse of a cavitation bubble formed as articular surfaces are separated. Unfortunately, bubble collapse as the source of joint cracking is inconsistent with many physical phenomena that define the joint cracking phenomenon. Here we present direct evidence from real-time magnetic resonance imaging that the mechanism of joint cracking is related to cavity formation rather than bubble collapse. In this study, ten metacarpophalangeal joints were studied by inserting the finger of interest into a flexible tube tightened around a length of cable used to provide long-axis traction. Before and after traction, static 3D T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were acquired. During traction, rapid cine magnetic resonance images were obtained from the joint midline at a rate of 3.2 frames per second until the cracking event occurred. As traction forces increased, real-time cine magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated rapid cavity inception at the time of joint separation and sound production after which the resulting cavity remained visible. Our results offer direct experimental evidence that joint cracking is associated with cavity inception rather than collapse of a pre-existing bubble. These observations are consistent with tribonucleation, a known process where opposing surfaces resist separation until a critical point where they then separate rapidly creating sustained gas cavities. Observed previously in vitro, this is the first in-vivo macroscopic demonstration of tribonucleation and as such, provides a new theoretical framework to investigate health outcomes associated with joint cracking.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.