Patient Specific Finite Element Modeling of Lumbar Vertebrae

It is the purpose of this work to investigate whether it is feasible to develop Finite Element (FE) models that take into account the geometric differences between the lumbar vertebrae of patients. It is also the purpose of this work to determine whether or not such patient specific differences affect the results of the FE analysis in such a significant way that they should be considered in future patient modeling analysis. Because the spine is a complex system consisting of many tissues, developing an accurate patient-specific FE model is complex. Thus, our initial goal is to evaluate the nature and extent of differences in mechanical response within individual lumbar vertebrae. In this paper, the FE simulated responses of 7 vertebrae are compared under similar loading conditions to biomechanical testing of 7 cadaver specimens.