[Objective] To analyze the stress distribution in facet joint of lumbar spine on normal and degenerative models with biomechanical method during the manipulation. [Methods] The finite element model of lumbar facet joint of L4-5 were reconstructed with finite element method and imaging method. Different movements such as anteflexion, retroflexion, lateral flexion, rotation and compression were loaded on the models and then stress distribution during the mimetic spinal manipulation was analyzed and compared. [Results] The facet joint of lumbar spine has an important role in resisting load, especially in resisting rotation. [ Conclusion ] The strong flexion-rotation manipulation should be avoided for seriously degenerative subject.

Objective To study artificial lumbar intervertebral disc three-dimensional finite element model and its stress state. Methods The three-dimensional finite element models of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc were established by finite element software MSC. MARK. While L4-5 motion segment from young healthy cadaver was created to give the models biomaterial characters. The vertebral disc of L4-5 was replaced by artificial lumbar intervertebral disc to make a model of an artificial disc replacement. Results After three-dimensional finite element models with biomaterial characters of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc and L4-5 motion segment had been created, the stress distribution of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc showed some characteristics as follows:1)The stress exerted in the center of polyethylene slide core and end plates is biggest in all motion states, the next exists at the deviated site while the polyethylene slide core set in motion. 2)The upper surface of polyethylene slide core and end plates bear 2-3 times stress as much as that of the lower surface. 3)The biggest stress exists in the center of polyethylene slide core and end plates during compression in all motion states. Conclusion Establishment of three-dimensional finite element models of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc and analysis of its stress are feasible. The results are reliable.

Objective To observe the influence of the stress and displacement when the normal sacroiliac joint is exerted load simulating oblique-pulling manipulation, and to analyze the stress and displacement distribution when a three-dimensional finite element model of normal pelvis is exerted by oblique-pulling manipulation. Methods Lateral position was simulated on the three-dimensional finite element model of normal pelvis and it exerted loads horizontally forth and back, then the stress and displacement distribution were calculated. Results When the normal sacroiliac joint was exerted load simulating oblique-pulling manipulation, stress of the pelvis was mainly concentrated on the anterior inferior part of the left iliac fossa from the front view, with a maximum stress of 0.540E+07. The maximum value of internal and external strain of normal sacroiliac joint was 8.682 × 10-4m;the maximum value of anteropostreior strain was 3.337 × 10-4m;and the maximum value of up and down strain of normal sacroiliac joint was 3.284 × 10-4m. Conclusions The focus of the sacroiliac joint stress is mainly on the anterior and posterior superior borders when the normal pelvis exerted oblique-pulling manipulation. The internal and external strain of normal sacroiliac joint is maximal, the anteropostreior strain ranges the second, and the up and down strain is minimal.

BACKGROUND: Most reported biomechanical studies on sacroiliac joint injury and fixation use cadavers or artificial bone models to simulate the sacroiliac joint injury.OBJECTIVE: To analyze the vertical stability of anterior plate fixation for sacroiliac joint dislocation using three-dimensional finite element method. METHODS: The anterior plate fixation model of unilateral sacroiliac joint dislocation was constructed on the basis of the three-dimensional finite element model of a complete pelvis. An axial load of 500 N was applied on the model; the cloud pictures of stress, strain and displacement were obtained after calculation and compared with that of the complete pelvis under the same conditions.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Stress concentration occurred at the internal fixation system; the maximum stress was found at the screws near the injured sacroiliac joint, far greater than the maximum stress of the complete pelvis under the same condition. The maximum strain was found in the healthy sacroiliac joint; the fixed sacroiliac joint had no strain. The maximum displacement was found in the injured sacroiliac joint; it was about twice longer than the complete pelvis. These findings indicate that the vertical stability of pelvis is poor using anterior plate internal fixation treatment for sacroiliac joint dislocation; and stress concentration occurs at the screws and plates.

BACKGROUND: Presently-used artificial intervertebral disk is different greatly from the normal physiological intervertebral disk in structure, material and biological properties and so on. Therefore, stress conduction at corresponding spinal section will have a certain change after the implantation of artificial intervertebral disk.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the stress distribution in small joints of normal intervertebral disk group, vertebral extirpation group and artificial lumbar intervertebral disk group with three-dimensional element method in order to discuss exploratorily the influence of the implantation of artificial lumbar intervertebral disk on the stress distribution in small joints.DESIGN: Observative and comparison experiment.SETTING: Orthopedic Department, Third Affiliated Hospital and Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; Biomechanical Laboratory in Southern Medical University.PARTICIPANTS: Spinal specimen collected from the healthy people who died in accidenct without any spinal illness (donated by their family member) was used to establish three kinds of three-dimensional element models of normal intervertebral disk, artificial intervertebral disk and vertebral extirpation as experimental subjects.METHODS: Finite element MSC.MARK software was used to establish normal intervertebral disk model with height of 10.00 mm, cross sectional area of 1300.00 mm2, and vertebral pulp cross sectional area of 495.8 mm2;in the model of vertebral pulp extirpation,the intrinsic pressure of vertebral pulp was zero; and in the three dimensional models of artificial lumbar intervertebral disk and L4-5 movement segment , the small joints were about 10.53 mm high with width of 13.37 mm and auricular area of 135 mm2.Then lumbar movement was simulated for the study of the stress distribution in small joint.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of the stress in small joints under 6 kinds of states in the above three kinds of intervertebral disk movement model.RESULTS:In vertebral pulp extirpation group, the stress was proved to be the highest at superior edge, posterior middle part, lower edge and anterior middle part of small joints under anteflexion, backward extension, compression, lateroflexion and revolving states, moreover, small joint stress in artificial lumbar intervertebral disk was higher than that in normal intervertebral disk, but obviously lower than that in vertebral pulp extirpation group;however, the small joint of the middle part of artificial lumbar intervertebral disk bore the highest stress under revolving states.CONCLUSION: In contrast with vertebral pulp extirpation group, the small joint stress could be reduced after the implantant of artificial lumbar intervertebral disk, but was still higher than that of normal lumbar intervertebral disk group and the anti-verticity in artificial lumbar intervertebral disk group was markedly lower than that of normal lumbar intervertebral disk group and vertebral pulp ablation group, thus indicating that although presently-used artificial lumbar intervertebral disk possesses most of mechanical functions of normal lumbar intervertebral disk, but is still different from true lumbar intervertebral disk.

BACKGROUND: At present, there are very big differences in structure,material character and biological property between artificial intervertebral disc (AID) and normal physiological intervertebral disc.OBJECTIVE: Three-dimensional finite element method was used to observe and analysis the stress conduction of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc in lumbar motion segment.DESIGN: Single sample observation was designed.SETTING: Department of Orthopaedics, Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; Department of Orthopaedics, Second Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University; Laboratory of Mechanics, Southern Medical UniversityPARTICIPANTS: It was to employ a vertebral sample without any spinal disorder of a healthy male died due to accidence and a finite element model of AID implantation in vertebral motion segment established with SB Charite Ⅲ AID.METHODS: According to industrial design chart of AID, finite element software MSC.MARK was utilized to establish three-dimensional model of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc. The corpus sample of motion segment of healthy lumbar vertebrae was collected and scanned with spiral CT machine and imaging documents were input in computer to preserve.Geometric model of L4-5 segment was established in three-dimensional coordinate system in ASC.MARK software. The intervertebral disc in L4-5 motion segment model was replaced by AID. It was to ensure the fixation of lower terminal lamina of L5 in the model. 4 Nm moment of force was exerted in anterior flexion, posterior extension, lateral bending and torsion on the sample successively. Finally, force of internodes representing AID was calculated and stress distribution was recorded.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To observe stress distribution of anterior flexion, posterior extension, compression, lateral bending and rotation of AID.RESULTS: Finite element model of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc implanted lumbar motion segment that is in conformity with clinical practice was established. Stress distribution of AID was characterized as:er lamina was the maximum and that in the lower inclined part of slide of slide core and cover lamina was two or three times as same as that of sion, the stress in the center of slide core and cover lamina was the maximum.CONCLUSION: The finite element model of artificial lumbar intervertebral disc implanted lumbar motion segment established is in conformity with the structural character of practical artificial intervertebral disc in morphology, size and motion property, based on which, it is feasible to carry on the experiment on stress distribution of artificial intervertebral disc.

Objective To investigate the stress characteristics of atlanto-axial bony structure under conditions of anteflexion,posterior extension,lateral flexion,and rotation after artificial atlanto-odontoid joint arthroplasty using three-dimensional finite element method and to improve the orientation of artificial atlantoodontoid joint from perspective of stress.Methods A three-dimensional finite element model of prosthetic atlanto-odontoid joint arthroplasty was created from CT images of the artificial atlantoodontoid joint and cervical vertebrae using software Mimics,Freeform,and Ansys.Stress characteristics of the model dealt with proneness,posterior extension,lateral flexion,or rotation loads were observed.Biomechanical performance of the bony structure of the model was analyzed and the orientation in improving the prosthesis was discussed.Results Anteflexion loading produced a maximum stress of 0.138 ×l08 N/m2 at the junction of lateral mass and posterior arch of the atlas,and 0.201 × 108 N/m2 at axial nail hole,contact point of plates with the axis,and posterior arch of the axis.Posterior extension loading produced a maximum stress of 0.666 × 107 N/m2 at junction of lateral mass and posterior arch of the atlas and 0.254 × 108 N/m2 at arch of the axis.Besides,stress concentration occurred at atlantoaxis nail hole.Right bending produced a maximum stress of 0.124 × 108 N/m2 at nail hole of right mass of atlas and 0.178 × 108 N/m2 at right contact point of the axis with plates.Right rotation produced a maximum stress of 0.847 × 107 N/m2 at junction of lateral mass and posterior arch of the atlas and 0.170 × 109 N/m2 at contact point of the axis with plates.The finite element model comprised 28 620 nodes and 107 441 units and provided good defining of the structural properties of artificial atlanto-odontoid joint arthroplasty.Under different loading conditions,the stress was mainly distributed in contact point of the vertebral body with plates,nail holes,junction of lateral mass and posterior arch of the atlas,and axial pedicle.Conclusions Prosthetic atlanto-odontoid joint scatters a part of the stress and alters the stress distribution of the atlas and axis from the intact condition.Finite element method can obtain complete analysis of the stress distribution of the artificial atlanto-odontoid joint arthroplasty.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the differences of the cell ultrastucture of normal mouse hatched blastocysts and their dormant ones cultured in vitro after freezing-thawing, and to explore whether the dor-mant embryos have a better anti-freezing shock property than the normal hatched mouse embryos .Methods By transmis-sion electron microscopy , the ultrastructure of these two types of mouse embryos was observed and analyzed .Results By comparative analysis of their ultrastructure , the results showed that the dormant embryos before freezing are being austerity and with lower energy metabolism at a ‘ground state ’ .After freezing-thawing and culture , their cellular structure seemed to be similar to that of the normal embryos cultured in vitro before freezing.However, after freezing-thawing and culture, the number of mitochondria decreased , the nuclei were loose , and their heterochromatin also increased .Conclusions From the ultrastructural observation , compared with the normal mouse hatched embryos , the cellular state of dormant mouse em-bryos after freezing-thawing is more favorable for material storage and energy metabolism , thus, indicating that they have a better anti-freezing property than normal hatched embryos .

Objective To reconstruct anatomical structures and establish visible model of the hand and evaluate some key techniques of digitized virtual hand. Methods Three hands were scan and then perfused by self-curing denture acylic and cinnabar. With the datum from CT-scan of the specimen of perfused hand (cryopreserved 4-24 h), such anatomical structures as contour, bone, artery, extensor tendon, flexor tendon and nerve of hand were constructed by software of Mimics 10.01 and measured. Results The visible hand model based on anatomical structures was established and main anatomical structures were exactly showed. Each structure was displayed by the multiform solitude or combination. Vessel lumens was displayed hollow and fidelity. The hand nerve can the part demonstrate that can earnest reflect the normal human body nerve contour anatomy characteristic. Conclusion The visible hand model can provide 3D morphological data for clinical practice and research, as well as provide digitized model for virtual reality.

Objective To compare biomechanical properties of cortical bone trajectory (CBT) screw and traditional trajectory screw for fixing upper-middle thoracic spine. Methods The tomography images were obtained by CT scanning of normal T7 and T8 segments, and the three-dimensional (3D) model of T7-8 was reconstructed by Mimics software. The finite element model of upper-middle thoracic spine was established by optimizing FreeForm model and pre-processing function of ANSYS software. On this basis, the CBT screw and pedicle screw fixation models after discectomy were established, and 5 N·m flexion, extension, lateral bending and rotation loads were applied to the two model groups, respectively. The displacement and peak stress of vertebrae and implants under different working conditions were compared and analyzed. Results Under different loading conditions, the maximum displacement of CBT screw group was lower than that of pedicle screw group, and the range of motion of CBT screw group was lower than that of pedicle screw group. The stress level of both models was close, and the stress of CBT screw group was slightly lower than that of pedicle screw group. Under the load of flexion, extension and rotation, the maximum vertebral stress of pedicle screw group decreased by 31%, 17% and 18% compared with that of CBT screw group, and under lateral bending load, the vertebral stress of CBT screw group was 20% lower than that of pedicle screw group. Under the load of flexion and rotation, the maximum stress of pedicle screw group decreased by 2% and 11%; however, the maximum stress of CBT screw group was 11% and 1% lower than that of pedicle screw group. Conclusions The stability of CBT screw was better than that of pedicle screw, and the overall stress distribution was similar to that of pedicle screw. However, the vertebral stress distribution of CBT group was slightly inferior. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for the clinical application of cortical screw fixation after the failure in pedicle screw fixation for the upper-middle thoracic vertebrae.