Transducers for Dynamic Measurement of Spine Neural-Space Occlusions

Translational constraint influences dynamic spinal canal occlusion of the thoracic spine: An in vitro experimental study

“…The total range of the transducer was from its nominal cross-sectional outside tubing area of 198.6 mm 2 down to 70.6 mm 2 , representing total occlusion of the tubing of 64%. The resolution of the SCOT was 75% of full scale (Raynak et al, 1998, Nuckley et al, 2002. The 24 specimens were divided into four experimental groups (Table 1).…”

“…The location of maximum SCOT occlusion was compared to the injury level on X-rays. (Raynak, 1998). A plastic tubing is inserted into the spinal canal and filled with saline as the electrical resistance media.…”

“…A custom designed spinal canal occlusion transducer (SCOT) was used to measure the changes in the cross-sectional area of the spinal canal (Raynak et al, 1998;Nuckley et al, 2002). The transducer consisted of a flexible tube with outside diameter of 15.9 mm (Tygon R-1000, Norton Performance Plastics, Canton, OH) that was inserted into the spinal canal and filled with saline solution to create an isolated system functioning as a resistive element.…”

The development of an improved physical surrogate model of the human spinal cord—Tension and transverse compression

“…The Sylgard silicone surrogate cord developed by Bilston et al was designed to match the mechanical properties of the human ex vivo spinal cord in tension (Bilston et al, 1993;Bilston and Thibault, 1997). A sylastic tube spinal canal occlusion transducer developed by Raynak et al (1998) was designed to measure neural space occlusion, but not to mimic the mechanical properties of the cord. These former surrogate cords have been designed to measure canal occlusion and to evaluate spinal cord biomechanics under a single direction of loading (Bilston and Thibault, 1996;Pintar et al, 1996;Raynak et al, 1998).…”

The Development of a Physical Spinal Cord Surrogate with Localized Transverse Compression Sensing Capabilities

“…This information is needed to correlate loading conditions and fracture patterns with the mechanical impairment of the spinal cord [2]. Several studies investigated the dynamic events occurring during the replication of burst type fractures [3][4][5][6] while other researchers developed spinal canal occlusion sensors in an attempt to estimate the transient spinal cord compression occurring during the trauma [5,[7][8][9][10]. However, there is no published technology allowing the quantification of the internal strain occurring within the spinal cord during in vitro replication of the trauma.…”