Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials
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J Mech Behav Biomed Mater · Aug 2015
Derivation of inter-lamellar behaviour of the intervertebral disc annulus.
The inter-lamellar connectivity of the annulus fibrosus in the intervertebral disc has been shown to affect the prediction of the overall disc behaviour in computational models. Using a combined experimental and computational approach, the inter-lamellar mechanical behaviour of the disc annulus was investigated under conditions of radial loading. Twenty-seven specimens of anterior annulus fibrosus were dissected from 12 discs taken from four frozen ovine thoracolumbar spines. ⋯ The interface stiffness values of the outer annulus were from 43% to 75% higher than those of the inner annulus. Tangential stiffness values for the interface were from 6% to 39% higher than normal stiffness values within each group and similar to values reported by other investigators. These results reflect the intricate fibrous nature of the inter-lamellar connectivity and provide values for the representation of the inter-lamellar behaviour at a continuum level.