Faculty Collaboration Database

Cervical spine morphology and ligament property variations: A finite element study of their influence on sagittal bending characteristics. J Biomech 2019 Mar 06;85:18-26

Date

02/02/2019

Pubmed ID

30704760

DOI

10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.12.044

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85060522120 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   37 Citations

Abstract

Cervical spine finite element models reported in biomechanical literature usually represent a static morphology. Not considering morphology as a model parameter limits the predictive capabilities for applications in personalized medicine, a growing trend in modern clinical practice. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of variations in spinal morphology on the flexion-extension responses, utilizing mesh-morphing-based parametrization and metamodel-based sensitivity analysis. A C5-C6 segment was used as the baseline model. Variations of intervertebral disc height, facet joint slope, facet joint articular processes height, vertebral body anterior-posterior depth, and segment size were parametrized. In addition, material property variations of ligaments were considered for sensitivity analysis. The influence of these variations on vertebral rotation and forces in the ligaments were analyzed. The disc height, segmental size, and body depth were found to be the most influential (in the cited order) morphology variations; while among the ligament material property variations, capsular ligament and ligamentum flavum influenced vertebral rotation the most. Changes in disc height influenced forces in the posterior ligaments, indicating that changes in the anterior load-bearing column of the spine could have consequences on the posterior column. A method to identify influential morphology variations is presented in this work, which will help automation efforts in modeling to focus on variations that matter. This study underscores the importance of incorporating influential morphology parameters, easily obtained through computed tomography/magnetic resonance images, to better predict subject-specific biomechanical responses for applications in personalized medicine.

Author List

John JD, Saravana Kumar G, Yoganandan N

Author

Narayan Yoganandan PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Biomechanical Phenomena
Cervical Vertebrae
Finite Element Analysis
Humans
Intervertebral Disc
Ligaments, Articular
Male
Models, Biological
Range of Motion, Articular
Rotation
Weight-Bearing
Zygapophyseal Joint