The effect of fluid loss on the viscoelastic behavior of the lumbar intervertebral disc in compression

A viscoelastic finite element model of a L2-L3 motion segment was constructed and used to study: (1) the behavior of the intervertebral disc with different amounts of nucleus fluid loss; and (2) the effect of different rates of fluid loss on the viscoelastic behavior of the disc. The results indicat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of biomechanical engineering Vol. 120; no. 1; p. 48
Main Authors Lu, Y M, Hutton, W C, Gharpuray, V M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.1998
Subjects
Biomechanical Phenomena
Computer Graphics
Computer Simulation
Elasticity
Extracellular Space - physiology
Female
Humans
Intervertebral Disc - physiology
Lumbar Vertebrae - physiology
Middle Aged
Reference Values
Tensile Strength
Weight-Bearing - physiology
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Summary:A viscoelastic finite element model of a L2-L3 motion segment was constructed and used to study: (1) the behavior of the intervertebral disc with different amounts of nucleus fluid loss; and (2) the effect of different rates of fluid loss on the viscoelastic behavior of the disc. The results indicate that: (1) The viscoelastic behavior of the intervertebral disc depends to a large extent on the rate of fluid loss from the disc; the intrinsic properties of disc tissue play a role only at the early stage of compressive loading; (2) the axial strain increases, whereas the intradiscal pressure and the posterior radial disc bulge decrease with increasing fluid loss; (3) a decreasing fluid loss rate with a total fluid loss of 10 to 20 percent (from the nucleus) during the first hour of compressive loading best predicts the overall viscoelastic behavior of a disc.
ISSN:0148-0731
DOI:10.1115/1.2834306