Random field analysis applied to cervical spine column

The spine is complex and functionally significant segment of the human body. The spine, vertebra, and neck injury are the most frequent injuries in civil transport accidents. And cervical spine injuries are among the most serious orthopedic accidental injuries. In this study the C5-C6 spinal motion segment was modeled for random field analysis. The model consists of cortical shell, cancellous core, disc, posterior bone, and ligaments. It was validated with experimental data in flexion, extension, and lateral bending. Based on the sensitivity analysis, the important parameter was selected and assumed as random field to investigate response of the uncertain factor in cervical spine column. In this study it was shown that a change of material properties can cause a large difference in the response. Furthermore, for more accurate analysis, there needs to be an increase in the number of random field parameters. It is known that the material properties of the soft components in the spinal column have more effect on the external and internal response than that of the hard component. Therefore, in the next phase of this research the ligaments will be included in the random field analysis.