The mechanical characteristics of the head and neck structure, with special emphasis on the spinal cord, were examined in order to gain an insight into the deformation of the spinal cord during traumatic spinal cord injury. Mechanical tests of fresh human cadaver cervical and thoracic spinal cords and cervical dura mater were conducted in order to characterize the time dependent properties of these tissues. Once characterized, the results from these tests were used to evaluate appropriate materials for a surrogate spinal cord and brain. Materials deemed as suitable surrogates were used for the construction of an articulating model of the head and cervical spine. Quasistatic flexion tests of the completed physical model indicated reasonable agreement between vertebral motion and available information on the cervical spine kinematics. Additionaly, motion of the spinal cord surrogate was similar to previous cadaver and human volunteer studies. With more validation, this model may be used to measure the strains in a surrogate spinal cord during dynamic hyperflexion and hyperextension experiments.
Abstract