Measurements of the Lumbar Spine Anatomical Parameters for Use in Musculoskeletal Modeling

Basic information of anatomical parameters such as cross-sectional area (CSA) and moment arms (MA) of muscles are required for musculoskeletal modeling. Previous studies outlined muscle parameters based on in vivo imaging but extracting these data is invasive and costly. To provide a more realistic musculoskeletal model, for the profile of each individual lumbar spine, 3D vertebral model of each individual was constructed and the anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) cross-sectional areas (CSAs) and moment arms of all muscles at each lumbar disc level were measured and all these parameters obtained from CT scan images. The CSA of spinal muscles had significant difference between men and women at all muscles and most of level as well as the AP and ML muscles moment arm were significantly different between men and women at all muscles and spinal levels. The geometrical data of the group of subjects of this study can utilized for development of subject-specific model and can help assess spinal loads in different tasks.