BIOMECHANICS OF HUMAN LUMBAR SPINE: SOME BASIC CONCEPTS

The present status and recent advances of some basic aspects of biomcchanics of human lumbar spine are reviewed and evaluated. First, the mechanical properties of the componts of lumbar spine, inclding vertebral body, intervertebral disc, vertebral arch, ligaments and spinal cord, are described. Second, a discussion on Kinematics and Kinetics of lumbar spine is presented. Finally, the studies of mechanical models, mainly finite element models, of lumbar spine, arc briefly surveyed.