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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

intervertebral disc degeneration, mechanical tests, fetal bovine serum, FBS

College

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

Department

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

This ORCA research project has focused on the determination of the effects of the order of the mechanical tests on the response of an intervertebral disc. We hypothesized that the order of the mechanical tests may influence the rate of diffusion of the Trypsin throughout the disc, affecting the biomechanical response. We have planned to determine the magnitude of this influence by using statistical techniques to analyze the data acquired. Virtually all of us (80 to 90 percent) will experience back pain in our lives. Low back pain is the leading cause of missed work days. The estimated economic impact is over $100 billion dollars annually in the US. Research on how to adequately treat spinal injuries is an ongoing endeavor. Back pain is associated with intervertebral disc degeneration, although the exact relationship is still under investigation. The degeneration was accomplished by the injection of Trypsin into the annulus fibrosus (AF) of an intervertebral disc from bovine tail. Some intervertebral discs were injected with fetal bovine serum (FBS) as the control. Injected intervertebral discs were exposed to two mechanical tests: flexion/extension and axial rotation. The proposed third mechanical test of compression was not performed. This research was completed in order to develop a viable model of intervertebral disc degeneration in vitro that could be used for future research and testing of prosthetic intervertebral disc implantable devices. Similar research is now being performed on human intervertebral discs. Since the data for human intervertebral discs have not been obtain, a statistical analysis of the bovine tail test data has been performed for this research. It has been found that a variation in the data due to the order of the tests is not significant.

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