A Virtual Model of the Human Cervical Spine for Physics-based Simulation and Applications

INTRODUCTION used to create each body (C1 to T1). The reconstructed anatomical model is shown in Figure 1. In phase two, the reconstructed Skull-Cervical vertebrae-Upper torso geometry was imported into a physics-based multibody simulation software program (VisualNastran 4D, MSC) that was used to define the interconnecting joints and soft tissue elements. The facet joints were modeled as colliding biconvex surfaces at C1-C2 and a ball on a plane joint between vertebrae C2 through T1 (Figure 2). With emerging computer technology, there is an effort to integrate computer graphics, diagnostic imaging tools, and computer aided design and engineering analysis programs into biomedical research. The use of computer graphics to model the cervical spine provides the opportunity to create a virtual simulator for kinematics and kinetic testing of the cervical spine. The objective was to develop a graphics oriented interactive cervical spine model for physicsbased dynamic simulation.