Numerical simulation of realistic human lumbar spine model under compressive force, axial rotation and lateral bending loads

In this study a numerical model based on the finite element method is used to simulate the behavior of human lumber spine. Due to lack of realistic models, in the present work a lumber spine model is generated from Computational tomography (CT-Scan) images by Mimics 17 software. Also, according to the wide range of loading conditions, to achieve realistic results, optimized loads acquired from other researches are used. Human lumber spine model which is used in this study consists of five vertebrae, five discs, and all ligaments. Model is loaded under statically conditions and calculated with ANSYS-Abaqus 16 (Simulia Inc., Providence, USA) software. Obtained results are compared with other numerical simulation results and experimental measurements which are reported in other researches. Numerical modeling consists of six cases as follows: intervertebral rotation, interadiscal pressure and facet joint forces under the axial rotation and lateral bending with compressive follower force loadings. In all cases, intervertebral rotation, interadiscal pressure and facet joint forces are reported. Comparisons show that obtained results have a good agreement with experimental measurements. Therefore, results show that realistic model with optimized loadings predicted the behavior of lumber spine more accurate than other numerical models.