Parametric study of lumbar belts in the case of low back pain: effect of patients' specific characteristics

TL;DR

This study uses a numerical 3D trunk model to analyze how different patient characteristics and belt parameters influence the biomechanical effects of lumbar belts in low back pain treatment, highlighting the importance of personalized belt selection.

Contribution

It introduces a parametric numerical model to evaluate the biomechanical effects of lumbar belts considering patient-specific factors, advancing personalized treatment strategies.

Findings

Belt choice significantly depends on patient morphology.

Mechanical properties of body structures have limited impact on treatment effectiveness.

Intervertebral disc properties notably influence biomechanical outcomes.

Abstract

Objective: A numerical 3D model of the human trunk was developed to study the biomechanical effects of lumbar belts used to treat low back pain. Methods: This model was taken from trunk radiographies of a person and simplified so as to make a parametric study by varying morphological parameters of the patient, characteristic parameters of the lumbar belt and mechanical parameters of body and finally to determine the parameters influencing the effects of low back pain when of wearing the lumbar belt. The loading of lumbar belt is modelled by Laplace's law. These results were compared with clinical study. Results: All the results of this parametric study showed that the choice of belt is very important depending on the patient's morphology. Surprisingly, the therapeutic treatment is not influenced by the mechanical characteristics of the body structures except the mechanical properties of intervertebral discs. Discussion: The numerical model can serve as a basis for more in-depth studies concerning the analysis of efficiency of lumbar belts in low back pain. In order to study the impact of the belt's architecture, the pressure applied to the trunk modelled by Laplace's law could be improved. This model could also be used as the basis for a study of the impact of the belt over a period of wearing time. Indeed, the clinical study shows that movement has an important impact on the distribution of pressure applied by the belt.