Faculty Collaboration Database

Dynamic response of human cervical spine ligaments. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 1989 Oct;14(10):1102-10

Date

10/01/1989

Pubmed ID

2588060

DOI

10.1097/00007632-198910000-00013

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0024454704 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   133 Citations

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the dynamic response of human cervical spine ligaments. Uniaxial tensile failure tests were conducted on anterior longitudinal ligament (AL) and ligamentum flavum (LF) structures. These ligaments were tested under in situ conditions by transecting all the elements except the one (AL or LF) under study. A fixture was designed to properly align the specimen to induce a uniaxial mode of loading. A six-axis load cell was placed at the distal end of the specimen. The proximal end of the specimen was attached to the piston of a specially designed electrohydraulic testing device. The biomechanical properties of the ligaments were determined at four different loading rates of 8.89, 25.0, 250.0 and 2500 mm/sec. The mechanical response indicated nonlinear and sigmoidal characteristics. The ultimate tensile failure load, stiffness, and energy-absorbing capacity at failure were found to increase with increasing loading rates for both the AL and LF. However, the distractions at failure did not indicate this tendency. While the ultimate tensile force and ultimate energy-absorbing capacity varied nonlinearly with the logarithm of the loading rate, the stiffness varied linearly.

Author List

Yoganandan N, Pintar F, Butler J, Reinartz J, Sances A Jr, Larson SJ

Authors

Frank A. Pintar PhD Chair, Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Narayan Yoganandan PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

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

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cadaver
Cervical Vertebrae
Humans
Ligaments
Middle Aged
Stress, Mechanical
Tensile Strength