Numerical simulation and experimental tests on a lumbar disc prosthesis

Many solutions were adopted to substitute the intervertebral disc when it is damaged and has to be removed, in order to assure stability of the spine as well as some degree of freedom of the spine segment. The disc prostheses currently on the market, however, are frequently subject to failure due to wear and degeneration of the material or stress shielding. Aim of the present research is the design a new solution for the artificial intervertebral disc and to perform a numerical-experimental analysis on them. Starting from the tests performed on the hyperelastic materials considered to substitute the intervertebral disc, numerical models were carried out on the new devices. The paper prosecutes with the experimental analysis, under simple static compression tests. Finally, numerical and experimental comparison was made in order to evaluate the best prosthesis among the different adopted models.