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035 a| (OCoLC)1456021918;

090 a| QP367;

049 a| EREE;

100 1 a| Bruns, Rachel Elaine,e| author.?| UNAUTHORIZED;

245 10 a| Integration of cervical nervous tissues into a head-neck finite element model for the investigation of radiculopathy /c| by Rachel Elaine Bruns.;

264 1 a| [Greenville, N.C.] :b| [East Carolina University],c| 2024.;

300 a| 1 online resources (105 pages) :b| illustrations (chiefly color);

336 a| textb| txt2| rdacontent;

337 a| computerb| c2| rdamedia;

338 a| online resourceb| cr2| rdacarrier;

347 a| text fileb| application/pdfc| 16.5 MB2| rda;

538 a| System requirements: Adobe Reader.;

538 a| Mode of access: World Wide Web.;

502 b| M.S.c| East Carolina Universityd| 2024.;

500 a| Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Engineering;

500 a| Advisor: Alex Vadati;

500 a| Title from PDF t.p. (viewed November 7, 2025).;

520 3 a| Radiculopathy of the spine is a prevalent chronic disorder caused by a wide number of pathologies, affecting up to 10% of individuals over the age of 50, caused by compression of the nerve roots. Recent concern has been raised at the increasing incidence of reported neck pain in fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, and crewmen. Repetitive loading activities such as wearing heavy helmets could be contributing to chronic neck pain, decreasing quality of life and safety while operating aircraft. To understand how to prevent and treat neck pain within the pilot population, a more in-depth understanding of the soft tissue interactions under chronic loading of the cervical spine must be investigated. Due to the ethical concerns of researching loading the neck in human experiments, mechanisms of nerve root pain and potential radiculopathy can be investigated using finite element (FE) modeling. The Nerve CSM (Cervical Spine Model) was developed in this thesis by adding nervous tissue to an existing head-neck model, the VIVA Open Human Body Model (OpenHBM). The newly developed nervous tissue encompassed gray and white matter of the spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, dura mater, root sheaths, spinal nerves, nerve roots, dorsal root ganglions, nerve rootlets, denticulate ligaments, foraminal ligaments and epidural ligaments. Validation of the Nerve CSM's global head and spinal cord kinematics was performed by replicating a 2.3 m/s whiplash simulation and a flexion/extension simulation. The global head kinematics of the Nerve CSM in the 2.3 m/s whiplash simulation did not change substantially compared to the VIVA OpenHBM. Additionally, the correlation score for the time response of the Nerve CSM compared to the experimental data was similar to the VIVA OpenHBM, thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the addition of the nerve geometry did not considerably alter the global kinematics of the VIVA OpenHBM. The results of the spinal cord kinematic validation of the Nerve CSM demonstrated that the spinal cord during flexion and extension of the head moved within the bounds of variation presented in the experimental data, pointing to a conclusion that the Nerve CSM demonstrates suitable spinal cord kinematics for a healthy participant. Future work will encompass the integration of the Nerve CSM into subject-specific pilot neck models to investigate the effect of cervical spine compression and flight related loading conditions on the interaction between the nerve roots and surrounding tissues.;

504 a| Includes bibliographical references.;

650 0 a| Spinal nerve roots.=| ^A1486495;

650 0 a| Finite element method.=| ^A49224;

650 0 a| Chronic pain.=| ^A811270;

650 0 a| Entrapment neuropathies.=| ^A1486481;

653 a| cervical radiculopathy;

653 a| spine;

653 a| finite element modeling;

653 a| computational modeling;

653 a| pain mechanisms;

653 a| nerve root compression;

700 1 a| Vadati, Alex,e| degree supervisor.=| ^A1486373;

710 2 a| East Carolina University.b| Department of Engineering.=| ^A1231592;

856 40 z| Access via ScholarShipu| http://hdl.handle.net/10342/13726;

994 a| C0b| ERE;

596 a| 1 4;

998 a| 6477439;

999 a| CLICK ON WEB ADDRESSw| ASISc| 1i| 6477439-1001l| JNETm| JOYNERr| Ys| Yt| JNE3ETDu| 9/16/2024x| ETDz| JERESOURCE;

999 a| CLICK ON WEB ADDRESSw| ASISc| 1i| 6477439-2001l| HSLELECm| HSLr| Ys| Yt| HEETDu| 9/16/2024x| ETDz| HERESOURCE;

Integration of cervical nervous tissues into a head-neck finite element model for the investigation of radiculopathy / by Rachel Elaine Bruns.

Author/creator	Bruns, Rachel Elaine author.
Other author	Vadati, Alex, degree supervisor.
Other author	East Carolina University. Department of Engineering.
Format	Theses and dissertations
Publication	[Greenville, N.C.] : [East Carolina University], 2024.
Description	1 online resources (105 pages) : illustrations (chiefly color)
Supplemental Content	Access via ScholarShip
Subjects	Spinal nerve roots. Finite element method. Chronic pain. Entrapment neuropathies.

Summary	Radiculopathy of the spine is a prevalent chronic disorder caused by a wide number of pathologies, affecting up to 10% of individuals over the age of 50, caused by compression of the nerve roots. Recent concern has been raised at the increasing incidence of reported neck pain in fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, and crewmen. Repetitive loading activities such as wearing heavy helmets could be contributing to chronic neck pain, decreasing quality of life and safety while operating aircraft. To understand how to prevent and treat neck pain within the pilot population, a more in-depth understanding of the soft tissue interactions under chronic loading of the cervical spine must be investigated. Due to the ethical concerns of researching loading the neck in human experiments, mechanisms of nerve root pain and potential radiculopathy can be investigated using finite element (FE) modeling. The Nerve CSM (Cervical Spine Model) was developed in this thesis by adding nervous tissue to an existing head-neck model, the VIVA Open Human Body Model (OpenHBM). The newly developed nervous tissue encompassed gray and white matter of the spinal cord, cerebrospinal fluid, dura mater, root sheaths, spinal nerves, nerve roots, dorsal root ganglions, nerve rootlets, denticulate ligaments, foraminal ligaments and epidural ligaments. Validation of the Nerve CSM's global head and spinal cord kinematics was performed by replicating a 2.3 m/s whiplash simulation and a flexion/extension simulation. The global head kinematics of the Nerve CSM in the 2.3 m/s whiplash simulation did not change substantially compared to the VIVA OpenHBM. Additionally, the correlation score for the time response of the Nerve CSM compared to the experimental data was similar to the VIVA OpenHBM, thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the addition of the nerve geometry did not considerably alter the global kinematics of the VIVA OpenHBM. The results of the spinal cord kinematic validation of the Nerve CSM demonstrated that the spinal cord during flexion and extension of the head moved within the bounds of variation presented in the experimental data, pointing to a conclusion that the Nerve CSM demonstrates suitable spinal cord kinematics for a healthy participant. Future work will encompass the integration of the Nerve CSM into subject-specific pilot neck models to investigate the effect of cervical spine compression and flight related loading conditions on the interaction between the nerve roots and surrounding tissues.
General note	Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Engineering
General note	Advisor: Alex Vadati
General note	Title from PDF t.p. (viewed November 7, 2025).
Dissertation note	M.S. East Carolina University 2024.
Bibliography note	Includes bibliographical references.
Technical details	System requirements: Adobe Reader.
Technical details	Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Integration of cervical nervous tissues into a head-neck finite element model for the investigation of radiculopathy / by Rachel Elaine Bruns.

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