Basics of Multibody Systems: Presented by Practical Simulation Examples of Spine Models

Abstract

Computer modeling is a widely used method to determine the biomechanical behavior of a system. The aim of our biomechanical multibody simulation computer modeling is to consider the characteristics of a musculoskeletal system through the use of knowledge from the fields of mechanics, anatomy, and physiology in the model in an appropriate manner, in order to obtain as accurately as possible a realistic simulation of the biomechanical behavior of the system. Various application examples of a lumbar spine model that takes the spinal structures with their specific material properties into account are presented: effects of different spine alignments in standing position, effects of overweight on the spinal biomechanics, and application possibilities of biomechanical computer models in medicine.