Burris had a hunch that the reabsorption process was driven by
hydrodynamic pressurization, which occurs whenever the relative motion of two surfaces causes fluid between them to accelerate in the shape of a triangular wedge.
To investigate whether
hydrodynamic pressurization could refill deflated cartilage, Burris and A.C. Moore, a Ph.D. student, placed larger - than - average cartilage samples against a glass flat to ensure the presence of the necessary wedge.