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Updated: May 18, 2026

Construction of a Realistic, Whole-Body, Three-Dimensional Equine Skeletal Model using Computed Tomography Data
Published on: February 25, 2021
On the role of spectral markers and stability in spine models
Pedro R S Antunes1, Pedro Freitas
1Department of Mathematics, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Av. do Campo Grande, 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal. pant@cii.fc.ul.pt
Abstract:
We considered various stability issues related to biomechanical models of the spine, taking as our point of departure the scalar quantities proposed in Howarth et al. (2004). We discussed their significance and applicability by considering some mechanical toy models. In particular, we analysed the relevance of the behaviour of some of these measurements, namely, the determinant of the Hessian matrix and other quantities containing information of a similar spectral nature, and the role they may play in this type of studies. We showed that although in some cases these markers contain information about the load acting on the subject, this information may also be masked and not be detectable from these indexes. These models also allowed us to see how a system with these characteristics may become highly sensitive even to small load changes, and prompted us to put forward the hypothesis that trying to preserve stability at all costs might, under some circumstances, be an actual cause for system damage.
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