The Lumbar spine contains 5 vertebrae with 3 DoF spherical joints in
between, 188 muscle fascicles and a model of intra-abdominal pressure.
```{raw} html
Since it is impractical to measure or specify the motions of individual segments within the spine
(termed functional spinal units or FSU), these motions are prescribed by default as a function of overall lumbar curvature.
These functions are known as kinematic rhythms.
Facet joints are also not employed by default, since most applications do not focus on the lumbar spine
section. However, several examples in `AMMR/Applications` folder demonstrate possible mechanisms of
facet joint incorporation and detailed modeling of the lumbar spine.
The spinal muscles do not include the force-length-velocity relations (i.e.
we use the so-called simple muscle model). The only input parameter in
the muscle model is the cross-sectional area multiplied by a factor.
Daggfeldt and Thorstensson (J.Biomech. 2003, 36: 815-825) didn't include
the force-length-velocity relations either.
The inclusion of the lumbar spine ligaments is optional and can be defined as a cumulative stiffness of
FSUs or as separate elastic elements. Similarly, the intervertebral disc
(IVD) stiffness can be defined as a single cumulative value for a FSU or as
linear and nonlinear functions for the disc alone. This, however, is
mostly utilized for the spine specific applications, where such a level of
detail is important.
In other cases, it has been shown that the torque
production from ligaments might not be very important (Cholewicki and
McGill, J.Biomech. 1992, 25: 17-28). The data of vertebrae dimensions
and whole body parameters is taken from: Nissan and Gilad (J.Biomech.
19: 753-758, 1986) and mechanical properties of ligaments were taken
from: Pintar et al. (J.Biomech. 25(11): 1351-1356, 1992).
The spine model contains a preliminary model of the Intra Abdominal
pressure (IAP). In short the abdomen is modeled as constant volume, which,
when squeezed from the side by the transversus muscles extends the spine
by pushing on the rib thorax and the pelvic floor.
From the mathematical
point-of-view, this lets the abdominal muscles function as spine
extensors, and they become part of the whole recruitment problem. The
limit of the IAP was set to 26600 Pa, which was based on measurements on
well-trained subjects (Essendrop, M., 2003. Significance of
intra-abdominal pressure in work related trunk-loading. Ph.D. Thesis,
National Institute of Occupational Health, Denmark.) and using
geometric/anatomical estimates of pressure surface area and area
centroids, which in turn determines the effective moment arm of the
resulting forces.
## Example Configuration
The lumbar spine model is always part of the AnyBody Human model. The muscles can
be enabled/disabled, and the lumbar disc stiffness can be controlled.
:::{seealso}
:class: margin
The {doc}`Trunk configuration parameters <../bm_config/trunk>` for a
full list of Trunk parameters.
:::
```AnyScriptDoc
#define BM_TRUNK_MUSCLES ON
#define BM_TRUNK_DISC_STIFNESS _DISC_STIFFNESS_LINEAR_
More details on the lumbar spine model can be found online:
You can read more about this lumbar spine model and some preliminary
validation in the following article: