This article focuses on research developments by engineers in developing spine models that can prove to be of great use in the medical industry. Using a combination of force monitors and optical sensors to track position, researchers can find links between body position and spinal loading. Detailed spinal models enable researchers to visualize the loads placed on individual spines. Spine models are expected to become important tools for surgeons. Spinal models can provide that type of information. We can individualize them by modifying our general models with information about individuals captured by video analysis and gathered from MRI and CT scans. These models generate animations that show how the spine reacts to force as it moves in space. They highlight where – and why – discs bulge and shifting sections of the vertebrae impinge on nerves. They automatically pinpoint structural overloads.
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October 2015
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The Secret Life of the Spine
Little is Understood about a Critical Body Structure; Engineers are Changing that.
William S. Marras is executive director of the Spine Research Institute and the Honda Chair professor at Ohio State University in Columbus. He is also president-elect of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Mechanical Engineering. Oct 2015, 137(10): 30-35 (6 pages)
Published Online: October 1, 2015
Citation
Marras, W. S. (October 1, 2015). "The Secret Life of the Spine." ASME. Mechanical Engineering. October 2015; 137(10): 30–35. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2015-Oct-1
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