Objectives: The incidence rate of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is increasing year by year, which brings great harm to our health. The change of biomechanical factors is an important reason for IVDD. Therefore, more and more studies use finite element (FE) models to analyze the biomechanics of spine.
Methods: In this review, literatures which reported the FE model of intervertebral disc (IVD) were reviewed. We summarized the types and constructional methods of the FE models and analyzed the applications of some representative FE models.
Results: The most widely used model was the nonlinear model which considers the behavior of porous elastic materials. As more advanced methods, More and more models which involve penetration parameters were used to simulate the biological behavior and biomechanical properties of IVD.
Conclusions: Personalized modeling should be carried out in order to better provide accurate basis for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. In addition, microstructure, cell behavior and complex load should be considered in the process of model construction to build a more realistic model.
Keywords: Intervertebral disc; application; biomechanics analysis; finite element; modeling.
The nonlinear models in the primary stage considered the behavior of porous elastic materials, but rarely consider the effect of osmotic pressure on liquidity.The advanced multiphase models considering permeability parameters have been applied widely during the construction of FE models of IVDs.In the future, realistic models should make reliable connections between the multi-scale models and microstructures under more complex mechanical loading conditions.