Abstract
We carried out MR imaging to investigate the positions of the lumber vertebrae and the intervertebral discs as well as their mechanical loading states for four healthy male students. The subjects lie on the bed in a supine position without loading as well as a recumbent and squat position with/without loading as a 20% body weight by pulling rubber tubes by hands. The measurement results show that locations of the vertebrae from T12 to S1 change significantly between the squat position and the supine position. The loading at the squat position had little effect on the positions of the vertebrae. The analysis of the MR images shows that the averaged angle of the upper surface of the vetebra S1 varies S1 varies depending on subjects.
