抄録
The etiology of idiopathic scoliosis is still unknown. The effects of limitation of spinal mobility in forward flexion on the development of scoliosis was studied in experimental animals. The spinous processes of lumbar vertebrae of young female rats were sutured together to make persistent limitation in the forward flexion of the spine. These findings indicated that the experimentally produced scoliosis was structural. This experimental study suggested that a limitation in the spinal mobility in forward flexion has a causative effect on the development and progress of idiopathic scoliosis. The finite element method is one of the useful methods to evaluate the mechanical properties of complex structural components. In this report, the finite element model of human spne with skeletal soft tissues is presented to describe the composite structure of human spine. The validation of the spine model is confirmed to compare the result of the clinical experiment with the analytical result by finite element model.
