The innovative design of spinal disc implant

• Main Authors: Cheng Tang Tsai, 蔡承唐
• Other Authors: D. M. Lee
• Format: Others
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/00770541869979891499

碩士 === 長庚大學 === 醫療機電工程研究所 === 101 === Degenerative disc disease is a major reason for low back pains that affect people’s life. Recently, total disc replacement surgery has been developed to treat degenerative disc disease. In this thesis, a novel artificial disk implant was designed, analyzed, manufactured and tested. The implant is a compact device which is able to absorb impact and simulate the spinal disc nuclear function. The device is designed to limit the range of motion by spherical geometric contact to reduce facet joint loading. Also, a finite element method is applied to analysis the stress distribution for three different endplate shapes to obtain the most feasible shape. Both disc spring and polyethylene are applied as a cushion material to absorb impact. Finally, a strength test is applied to verify the tolerance of the vertical pressure of this design. Result: ellipse shape of the endplate can averagely distribute the stress. Using disc spring as the shock absorbing material is better than polyethylene because of reasonable deformation. According to the test of the constrained range of motion, it’s close to the angle we set, thus this design can successfully constrain the range of motion. Afterwards we expect to search for biomaterial springs which can be used in human test and help those who are suffered by low back pain.