Although the role of spinal posture and muscular activity on low back pain has been investigated, there is minimal understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of intervertebral disc injuries that occur during lifting after prolonged sitting or standing. This project will employ micromechanical testing techniques to compare the behaviour of disc tissue from injured discs between sitting and standing postures to identify the weakest disc regions during experimental micro-mechanical testing following failure during lifting. The findings of this research will lead to the development of failure criteria of the disc via multiscale computational models, as well as provide important data for the development of new treatment strategies.
My program of research aims to understand the fundamental multiscale properties of normal, degenerated and injured spinal discs, and their mechanisms of failure, and to develop medical devices to treat these problems. Low back pain is ranked globally as the greatest contributor to the number of years lived with disability, and is the number one contributor to the non-fatal health burden in Australia. Injury to the disc can occur through awkward lifting postures or propagate over many years of repetitive lifting. In both cases, the disc can herniate (aka 'slipped disc') causing radiating nerve pain and disability. We use a range of equipment including a unique, world-leading six axis hexapod robot, a single axis materials fatigue testing system and a biaxial system for testing microscale portions of biological tissues. We also use scanning electron microscopy to visualise the micro-/nano-scale structure of disc tissue to understand mechanisms of failure.
