Spine Stability: the Six Blind Men and the Elephant.
From: Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Biomechanics Research Laboratory, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208071, New Haven, CT 06520-8071, USA.
Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon)
- Publish Date: Mar 2007
- ISSN: 0268-0033
- Volume: 22
- Issue: 3
- Pages: 266-74
- Medium: Print
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Reeves N Peter, Narendra Kumpati S, Cholewicki Jacek, et al. Spine Stability: the Six Blind Men and the Elephant.. Mar 2007;22:266-74
Abstract
Stability is one of the most fundamental concepts to characterize and evaluate any system. This term is often ambiguously used in spinal biomechanics. Confusion arises when the static analyses of stability are used to study dynamic systems such as the spine. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to establish a common ground of understanding, using standard, well-defined terms to frame future discussions regarding spine dynamics, stability, and injury. A qualitative definition of stability, applicable to dynamic systems, is presented. Additional terms, such as robustness (which is often confused with stability) and performance are also defined. The importance of feedback control in maintaining stability is discussed. Finally, these concepts are applied to understand low back pain and risk of injury.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Biomechanics, Humans, Low Back Pain, Muscle Contraction, Risk Factors, Spine
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 17210212
This abstract is part of PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed includes more than 17 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles. See Copyright and Disclaimers.
Linked medical terms appearing on this page are added by Healia to help readers find more information and are not part of the original PubMed document.
The data herein was last updated on July 8th, 2008 and may not reflect the most current and accurate data available from NLM.