Combined magnetic fields provide robust coverage for interbody and posterolateral lumbar spinal fusion sites

Electromagnetic fields generated by spinal bone growth stimulation devices have been computationally modelled to determine coverage of the lumbar spinal vertebrae. The underlying assumption of these models was that the electric field, but not the magnetic field, was therapeutically relevant. However, there are no published studies examining the therapeutic coverage of spinal fusion sites by stimulators utilizing combined magnetic fields. To assess the coverage, an anatomical model of the vertebrae and discs of the lumbar spine was developed to represent interbody and posterolateral fusion sites. Computer simulations of the induced electromagnetic fields were analysed to determine coverage of the fusion sites. For both interbody and posterolateral fusion models, combined magnetic fields provided 100 % coverage of the fusion sites for all intervertebral disc spaces and for all posterior planes from L1 to L5, respectively. Within the vertebral column, the magnitude of the electric field reached a maximum value of 3.6 × 10−4 V/m, which is several orders of magnitude less than any reported study demonstrating a biological effect. Given its clinical efficacy, a bone growth stimulator utilizing combined magnetic fields must rely on the action of its magnetic field rather than its electric field for a therapeutic effect.