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MRI Evaluation of Spinal Length and Vertebral Body Angle During Loading with a Spinal Compression HarnessWeight bearing by the spinal column during upright posture often plays a role in the common problem of low back pain. Therefore, we developed a non-ferromagnetic spinal compression harness to enable MRI investigations of the spinal column during axial loading. Human subjects were fitted with a Nest and a footplate which were connected by adjustable straps to an analog load cell. MRI scans of human subjects (5 males and 1 female with age range of 27-53 yrs) during loaded and unloaded conditions were accomplished with a 1.5 Tesla GE Signa scanner. Studies of two subjects undergoing sequentially increasing spinal loads revealed significant decreases (r(sup 2) = 0.852) in spinal length between T4 and L5 culminating in a 1.5 to 2% length decrease during loading with 75% body weight. Sagittal vertebral body angles of four subjects placed under a constant 50% body weight load for one hour demonstrated increased lordotic and kyphotic curvatures. In the lumbar spine, the L2 vertebral body experienced the greatest angular change (-3 deg. to -5 deg.) in most subjects while in the thoracic spine, T4 angles increased from the unloaded state by +2 deg. to +9 deg. Overall, our studies demonstrate: 1) a progressive, although surprisingly small, decrease in spinal length with increasing load and 2) relatively large changes in spinal column angulation with 50% body weight.
Document ID
20020053441
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Campbell, James A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Hargens, Alan R.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Murthy, G.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Ballard, R. E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Watenpaugh, D. E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Hargens, Alan, R.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
Sanchez, E.
Yang, C.
Mitsui, I.
Schwandt, D.
Fechner, K. P.
Holton, Emily M.
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1998
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Meeting Information
Meeting: Experimental Biology ''98
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: April 18, 1998
End Date: April 22, 1998
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 199-80-02-05
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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