Motivated by the need to incorporate human spine mechanics into the design loop of wearable spine assistive devices, this article presents a spine-equivalent beam (SEB) model for analyzing kinematics and mechanics of a human spine in sagittal standing flexion. The model is capable of handling loads resulted from the head, arms, external payload, torso weight, and back muscle effects, and it also handles pelvis rotation. The derivation of the physiologically equivalent parameters is discussed, including initial curvature, cross-sectional area, area moment of inertia, force/moment of the back muscles, and the equivalent Young's modulus. The SEB model and its equivalent parameters are validated with published in vivo measurement collected by telemeterized implant embedded on subjects who have undergone vertebra body replacement surgery. Results show that the model is capable of predicting flexion angles and compression force experienced by the intervertebral discs throughout the flexion process, which provides a practical yet effective approach to incorporate the spine mechanics into the design of wearable spine assistive devices.

中文翻译：

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脊柱等效梁建模方法 体内 矢状位站立屈曲分析的验证

由于需要将人体脊柱力学纳入可穿戴式脊椎辅助设备的设计环中，本文提出了一种脊柱等效梁（SEB）模型，用于分析矢状站立屈曲中人体脊柱的运动学和力学。该模型能够处理由头部，手臂，外部有效载荷，躯干重量和背部肌肉效应引起的负荷，并且还可以处理骨盆旋转。讨论了生理等效参数的推导，包括初始曲率，横截面积，惯性矩，背部肌肉的力/矩以及等效杨氏模量。SEB模型及其等效参数已通过发布验证体内由植入在接受椎体置换手术的受试者上的遥测植入物收集的测量值。结果表明，该模型能够预测整个屈曲过程中椎间盘所经受的屈曲角度和压缩力，这为将脊柱力学纳入可穿戴脊柱辅助装置的设计提供了一种实用而有效的方法。