Numerical model of the human cervical spinal cord--the development and validation

The influence of mechanical load on the extent of nervous tissue damage in the spinal cord at the time of trauma is presently incontestable. Although numerical modelling cannot fully replace physical testing, it seems to be the perfect complement to experiments in terms of the analysis of such a complex phenomenon as traumatic spinal cord injury. Previous numerical models of the human cervical spinal cord have been limited by several factors: two-dimensional modelling, spinal cord geometry simplification and incomplete reflection of specific anatomical and biomechanical relations of the objects being modelled. The objective of this study was to develop and validate an accurate and universal numerical Finite Element Method (FEM) model of the human cervical spinal cord. Our survey focuses mainly on geometric, constraint and material aspects. Experimental validation was carried out based on a controlled compression of the porcine spinal cord specimens. Each stage of compression was simulated using the FEM model of the compressed segment. Our 3D numerical simulation results compared with experimental results show a good agreement. It is possible to use the developed numerical model of the human cervical spinal cord in the biomechanical analysis of the spinal cord injury phenomenon. However, further clinical evaluation is clearly justified.