%0 Journal Article
%T Biomechanical simulations of the scoliotic deformation process in the pinealectomized chicken: a preliminary study
%A Pierre Lafortune
%A Carl-¨¦ric Aubin
%A Hugo Boulanger
%A Isabelle Villemure
%A Keith M Bagnall
%A Alain Moreau
%J Scoliosis
%D 2007
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1748-7161-2-16
%X The FEM includes basic growth and growth modulation created by the muscle force imbalance. The experimental data were used to adapt a FEM previously developed to simulate the scoliosis deformation process in human. The simulations of the spine deformation process are compared with the results of an experimental study including a group of pinealectomized chickens.The comparison of the simulation results of the spine deformation process (Cobb angle of 37¡ã) is in agreement with experimental scoliotic deformities of two representative cases (Cobb angle of 41¡ã and 30¡ã). For the vertebral wedging, a good agreement is also observed between the calculated (28¡ã) and the observed (25¡ã ¨C 30¡ã) values.The proposed biomechanical model presents a novel approach to realistically simulate the scoliotic deformation process in pinealectomized chickens and investigate different parameters influencing the progression of scoliosis.The etiology of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), a three dimensional deformity of the spine and surrounding paravertebral tissues, remains obscure and many researchers have explored different hypotheses ([1], and see [2] for a review). Among them, paravertebral muscle abnormalities (increased electromyographic activity in the muscles of the convex side of the deformed spine [2-5]) have been observed in scoliotic patients. This force imbalance may in fact be a secondary factor in the development of AIS [2].The Hueter-Volkman concept of 'growth modulation' [6,7] explains, in a phenomenological way, how asymmetrical loading distribution on vertebral epiphyseal growth plate involved in scoliosis can alter the development of vertebrae and promote vertebral wedging. This created deformity is part of a vicious cycle where vertebral asymmetry is generating a spinal curvature, then accentuating the load asymmetrical distribution in the global spine, leading to further asymmetrical growth and so on [8,9].Finite element models (FEM) that include the mechanical struc
%U http://www.scoliosisjournal.com/content/2/1/16