A viscoelastic model of the human spine subjected to +gz accelerations

Abstract

A viscoelastic rod model which includes damping has been used to simulate the spinal column mathematically. This one-dimensional rod was subjected to a ramp input acceleration and the theoretical acceleration at the end of the rod was compared to the experimental head acceleration data from previously conducted cadaver tests. The agreement between the experimental and theoretical results is better than for the elastic rod model previously published, but indicates further nonlinear considerations are still needed.