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Published on: February 14, 2021
An inverse approach to estimating cervical spine disc material properties and disc stress under In vivo load
Soumaya Ouhsousou1, Clarissa M LeVasseur2,3, Jeremy Shaw2
1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Abstract:
This study presents a novel inverse finite element approach to estimate in vivo cervical spine biomechanical function. A physics-constrained optimization framework is used to estimate subject-specific intervertebral disc properties and applied loads that reproduce measured motion. As a proof-of-concept, analysis of a healthy human subject was able to accurately replicate vertebral kinematics within 1 mm on average. Incorporating material heterogeneity significantly improved predictions, while loading assumptions influenced estimated stress distributions. Despite some nonuniqueness in parameter estimation, disc stress patterns remained consistent. As a proof-of-concept with one healthy subject and one flexion motion, this approach shows early promise for noninvasively assessing in vivo tissue properties.
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