Computer modeling is a widely used method to determine the biomechanical behavior of a system. The aim of our biomechanical multibody simulation computer modeling is to consider the characteristics of a musculoskeletal system through the use of knowledge from the fields of mechanics, anatomy, and physiology in the model in an appropriate manner, in order to obtain as accurately as possible a realistic simulation of the biomechanical behavior of the system. Various application examples of a lumbar spine model that takes the spinal structures with their specific material properties into account are presented: effects of different spine alignments in standing position, effects of overweight on the spinal biomechanics, and application possibilities of biomechanical computer models in medicine.
Part of the book: Numerical Simulation
Background: Statistical analyses show that both the spine curvature and the morphological properties of the vertebral bodies can differ considerably. Therefore, the best outcome of a surgery for the individual patient could be achieved by developing patient specific implants to prevent inadequate anchorage of implants that don?t optimally fit to the anatomy and can cause damages of spinal structures.
Part of the book: Innovations in Spinal Deformities and Postural Disorders
The knowledge about the impact of structure-specific parameters on the biomechanical behavior of a computer model has an essential meaning for the realistic modeling and system improving. Especially the biomechanical parameters of the intervertebral discs, the ligamentous structures and the facet joints are seen in the literature as significant components of a spine model, which define the quality of the model. Therefore, it is important to understand how the variations of input parameters for these components affect the entire model and its individual structures. Sensitivity analysis can be used to gain the required knowledge about the correlation of the input and output variables in a complex spinal model. The present study analyses the influence of the biomechanical parameters of the intervertebral disc using different sensitivity analysis methods to optimize the spine model parameters. The analysis is performed with a multi-body simulation model of the cervical functional spinal unit C6-C7.
Part of the book: Recent Advances in Numerical Simulations