title: Failure properties and damage of cervical spine ligaments, experiments and modeling.
abstract: Cervical spine ligaments have an important role in providing spinal cord stability and restricting excessive movements. Therefore, it is of great importance to study the mechanical properties and model the response of these ligaments. The aim of this study is to characterize the aging effects on the failure properties and model the damage of three cervical spine ligaments: the anterior and the posterior longitudinal ligament and the ligamentum flavum. A total of 46 samples of human cadaveric ligaments removed within 24-48 h after death have been tested. Uniaxial tension tests along the fiber direction were performed in physiological conditions. The results showed that aging decreased the failure properties of all three ligaments (failure load, failure elongation). Furthermore, the reported nonlinear response of cervical ligaments has been modeled with a combination of the previously reported hyperelastic and damage model. The model predicted a nonlinear response and damage region. The model fittings are in agreement with the experimental data and the quality of agreement is represented with the values of the coefficient of determination close to 1.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Trajkovski
authors.forename: Senad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omerović
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hribernik
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Prebil
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology; D002102:Cadaver; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017843:Ligamentum Flavum / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D017846:Longitudinal Ligaments / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D013124:Spinal Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014783:Viscosity; D016474:Weight-Bearing