Back pain affects a person's health and mobility as well as being associated with large
health and social costs. Lower back pain is frequently caused by degeneration of the …

Collagen fibers within the annulus fibrosus (AF) lamellae are unidirectionally aligned with
alternating orientations between adjacent layers. AF constitutive models often combine two …

Degenerative diseases of the spine can lead to or hasten the onset of additional spinal
problems that significantly reduce human mobility. The spine consists of vertebral bodies …

The annulus fibrosus exhibits complex osmotic and inelastic effects responsible for unusual
transversal behavior with a Poisson's ratio higher than 0.5 in fibers plane and negative (ie …

BACKGROUND CONTEXT The use of finite element (FE) methods to study the
biomechanics of the intervertebral disc (IVD) has increased over recent decades due to their …

Finite element models are useful for investigating internal intervertebral disc (IVD)
behaviours without using disruptive experimental techniques. Simplified geometries are …

The intervertebral disc exhibits a complex inelastic response characterized by relaxation,
hysteresis during cyclic loading and rate dependency. All these inelastic phenomena …

Multi-directional deformation exhibited by annulus fibrosus (AF) is contributed by chemo-
mechanical interactions among its biomolecular constituents' collagen type I (COL-I) …

In vitro mechanical testing of intervertebral discs is crucial for basic science and pre‐clinical
testing. Generally, these tests aim to replicate in vivo conditions, but simplifications are …

Background The role of the axial pre-strain on the torsional response of the intervertebral
disc remains largely undefined. Moreover, the chemo-mechanical interactions in disc tissues …