Material Selection for Modeling of Intervertebral Disc

A Swamy

Abstract: ?Lower back pain? is an extremely common condition and very difficult to diagnose and treat. Computer models may help in the diagnosis; but need validation. This paper discusses the basic material selection for intervertebral disc for Lumbar spine (L1-L2); by changing the different intervertebral disc materials. The appropriate material is modeled to physiologically simulate the movements of vertebral body and intervertebral disc. The entire modeling will consist of various parameters that are used for the design viz; geometry; material properties and loading constraints of the lumbar spine. The vertebral bodies are manufactured from Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) P400 resin that has similar strength to vertebral bones. The stress strain curve for different intervertebral disc material indicates that PU-foam has better compressive properties with a lower elastic modulus; thus selected.

Keywords: Vertebral bodies; Intervertebral disc; material; Elastic modulus; prostheses