Influence of three-dimensional reconstruction method for building a model of the cervical spine on its biomechanical responses: A finite element analysis study

In some finite element analysis studies of models of sections of the spine, the three-dimensional solid model is built by assuming symmetry about the mid-sagittal plane of the section, whereas in other studies, the model is built from the exact geometry of the section. The influence of the method used to build the solid model on model parameters, in the case of the cervical spine, has not been reported in the literature. This issue is the subject of this study, with the section being C2-C7, the applied loadings being extension, flexion, left lateral bending, and right axial rotation (each of magnitude 1 Nm), and the model parameters determined being rotation, intradiskal pressure, and facet load at each of the segments. When all the parameter results were considered, it was found that, by and large, the influence of solid model construction method used (exact geometry vs assumption of symmetry about the mid-sagittal plane of the section) was marginal. As construction of a symmetric finite element model requires less time and effort, construction of an asymmetric model may be justified in special cases only.