Intervertebral disc degeneration, age, and sex affect the range of motion of the cervical spine.

Influences of intervertebral disc degeneration, age, sex, and segmental level on the range of motion (ROM) of the cervical spine are widely unknown. This in vitro study aimed to evaluate these effects using large sample sizes. 19 fresh frozen human cervical spines (occiput-T1) were loaded with pure moments of 2.

Automatic grading of intervertebral disc degeneration in lumbar dog spines.

Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration is frequent in dogs and can be associated with symptoms and functional impairments. The degree of disc degeneration can be assessed on T2-weighted MRI scans using the Pfirrmann classification scheme, which was developed for the human spine. However, it could also be used to quantify the effectiveness of disc regeneration therapies.

The move-C cervical artificial disc can restore intact range of motion and 3-D kinematics.

Background Context: In contrast to cervical discectomy and fusion, total disc replacement (TDR) aims at preserving the motion at the treated vertebral level. Spinal motion is commonly evaluated with the range of motion (ROM). However, more qualitative information about cervical kinematics before and after TDR is still lacking.

An externally validated deep learning model for the accurate segmentation of the lumbar paravertebral muscles.

Purpose: Imaging studies about the relevance of muscles in spinal disorders, and sarcopenia in general, require the segmentation of the muscles in the images which is very labour-intensive if performed manually and poses a practical limit to the number of investigated subjects. This study aimed at developing a deep learning-based tool able to fully automatically perform an accurate segmentation of the lumbar muscles in axial MRI scans, and at validating the new tool on an external dataset.

Methods: A set of 60 axial MRI images of the lumbar spine was retrospectively collected from a clinical database.

Morphological patterns of the rib cage and lung in the healthy and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

The morphology of the rib cage affects both the biomechanics of the upper body's musculoskeletal structure and the respiratory mechanics. This becomes particularly important when evaluating skeletal deformities, as in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). The aim of this study was to identify morphological characteristics of the rib cage in relation to the lung in patients with non-deformed and scoliotic spines.

The impact of age, sex, disc height loss and T1 slope on the upper and lower cervical lordosis: a large-scale radiologic study.

Purpose: To clarify the relative influence of age, sex, disc height loss and T1 slope on upper (Occiput-C2) and lower cervical lordosis (C2-C7).

Methods: Standing lateral cervical radiographs of 865 adult subjects were evaluated. The presence and severity of disc height loss from C2/C3 to C6/C7 (a total of 4325 discs) were assessed using a validated grading system.

Sagittal wedging of intervertebral discs and vertebral bodies in the cervical spine and their associations with age, sex and cervical lordosis: A large-scale morphological study.

Many recent studies have focused on the functional and clinical importance of cervical lordosis. However, there is little accurate knowledge of the anatomical parameters that constitute cervical lordosis (i.e.

Influences of functional structures on the kinematic behavior of the cervical spine.

Background Context: A few studies have already investigated the influences of functional structures of the cervical spine on its biomechanical behavior. In most studies, this has been done by measuring the range of motion. However, this parameter lacks of qualitative information about the overall kinematic behavior, such as coupled motions or translations.

Neck mobility in the Jurassic plesiosaur : finite element analysis as a new approach to understanding the cervical skeleton in fossil vertebrates.

The sauropterygian clade Plesiosauria arose in the Late Triassic and survived to the very end of the Cretaceous. Plesiosauria evolved the greatest species diversity of any marine reptile clade, attaining a global distribution. Plesiosauria consist of two clades, Rhomaleosauridae and Neoplesiosauria.

Thoracic spinal kinematics is affected by the grade of intervertebral disc degeneration, but not by the presence of the ribs: An in vitro study.

Background Context: Thoracic spinal three-dimensional kinematics is widely unknown. For the evaluation of surgical treatments and the complete validation of numerical models, however, kinematic data of the thoracic spine are essential.

Purpose: To identify possible effects of rib presence and grade of intervertebral disc degeneration on thoracic spinal kinematics including three-plane helical axes and instantaneous centers of rotation.

Uncertainty analysis of material properties and morphology parameters in numerical models regarding the motion of lumbar vertebral segments.

The kinematics of a spinal motion segment is determined by the material properties of the soft-tissue and the morphology. The material properties can vary within subjects and between vertebral levels, leading to a wide possible range of motion of a spinal segment independently on its morphology. The goal of this numerical study was to identify the most influential material parameters concerning the kinematics of a spinal motion segment and their plausible ranges.

In Vivo Evaluation of Fracture Callus Development During Bone Healing in Mice Using an MRI-compatible Osteosynthesis Device for the Mouse Femur.

Endochondral fracture healing is a complex process involving the development of fibrous, cartilaginous, and osseous tissue in the fracture callus. The amount of the different tissues in the callus provides important information on the fracture healing progress. Available in vivo techniques to longitudinally monitor the callus tissue development in preclinical fracture-healing studies using small animals include digital radiography and µCT imaging.

Comparison of three-dimensional helical axes of the cervical spine between in vitro and in vivo testing.

Background Context: The range of motion is a well-accepted parameter for the assessment and evaluation of cervical motion. However, more qualitative data of the kinematics of the cervical spine are needed for the development and success of cervical disc arthroplasty.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to provide basic information about helical axes of human cervical spine under in vitro conditions.

A novel finite element model of the ovine lumbar intervertebral disc with anisotropic hyperelastic material properties.

The Ovine spine is an accepted model to investigate the biomechanical behaviour of the human lumbar one. Indeed, the use of animal models for in vitro studies is necessary to investigate the mechanical behaviour of biological tissue, but needs to be reduced for ethical and social reasons. The aim of this study was to create a finite element model of the lumbar intervertebral disc of the sheep that may help to refine the understanding of parallel in vitro experiments and that can be used to predict when mechanical failure occurs.

Evaluation of high-resolution In Vivo MRI for longitudinal analysis of endochondral fracture healing in mice.

Mice are extensively used for experimental bone-healing studies. However, there are few established nondestructive in vivo techniques for longitudinal fracture-healing analysis in mice, including in vivo micro-computed tomography (μCT) and radiography. Importantly, none of the established methods can discriminate between non-mineralized fibrous tissue and cartilage in the soft fracture callus.

A comparison of free anterolateral thigh and latissimus dorsi flaps in soft tissue reconstruction of extensive defects in the head and neck region.

Tailoring the most suitable reconstructive approach to each patient remains challenging especially in the head and neck region. To compare the applicability of the latissimus dorsi (LD) and anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap, we retrospectively analyzed patients who had reconstruction of extensive and/or bulky composite tissue defects in the head and neck area. We performed 85 free tissue transfers (44 LD and 41 ALT flaps).

A three-dimensional finite element model of human atrial anatomy: new methods for cubic Hermite meshes with extraordinary vertices.

High-order cubic Hermite finite elements have been valuable in modeling cardiac geometry, fiber orientations, biomechanics, and electrophysiology, but their use in solving three-dimensional problems has been limited to ventricular models with simple topologies. Here, we utilized a subdivision surface scheme and derived a generalization of the "local-to-global" derivative mapping scheme of cubic Hermite finite elements to construct bicubic and tricubic Hermite models of the human atria with extraordinary vertices from computed tomography images of a patient with atrial fibrillation. To an accuracy of 0.

Monitoring in microvascular tissue transfer by measurement of oxygen partial pressure: four years experience with 125 microsurgical transplants.

In a prospective study, the characteristics and benefit of an invasive measurement of oxygen partial pressure (pO(2)) with the aid of a polarographic sensor were investigated in 125 microsurgical reconstructions of the head and neck area over a period of 45 months. Measurements were performed over 96 h in eight different types of microsurgically revascularized flaps for extra- and intraoral reconstructions and were evaluated separately for each flap type. Of 125 reconstructions the system indicated malperfusion in 18 cases.

Genotoxic activity of four metabolites of the soy isoflavone daidzein.

Products containing phytoestrogens are increasingly promoted as the "natural" alternative to estrogen replacement therapy. In the present study, we have used the in vitro micronucleus assay in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells to investigate the genotoxic potential of the isoflavone daidzein, and of four daidzein metabolites known to be formed in humans. Whereas no induction of micronuclei was observed with daidzein up to the limit of solubility (100 microM), all four daidzein metabolites, i.