An In-Silico Study on the Therapeutic Effect of Low Back Belts: Biomechanical Correlation between Belt Design and Patient Morphology

A comparative study of eight different lumbar belts, which are representative of the French market, was carried out on four typical morphologies of patients to assess their therapeutic effects and identify the correlation between the therapeutic parameters and mechanical ones. Four typical morphologies were chosen among 15 patients that had been chosen for the clinical study: tall-large, small-large, tall-thin, and small-thin. Simplified 3D finite elements (FE) models of the trunk according to each patient's morphology were used for numerical analyses using Abaqus Simulia (TM). The same material properties of the body structures and boundary conditions were taken for all models to only focus on morphological variations. The material properties of eight lumbar belts were obtained by mechanical testing. The pressure applied by the belt to the trunk was modelled by Laplace's law. The influences of belt types on typical morphologies were analyzed and synthetized to show which parameters are significant for biomechanical efficacy and attendance to the therapeutic effects. Finally, we found the following belt effects: (i) the lumbar belt is more efficient on the thin morphology than the large one, (ii) all mechanical values checked on the vertebral disks and vertebrae have a strong correlation with the correction of lordosis angle, and (iii) the belt's global stiffness is an important parameter for generating the pressure applied to the trunk.

Automated summary

A comparative study was conducted on eight different lumbar belts in the French market to evaluate their therapeutic effects and investigate the correlation between therapeutic and mechanical parameters. Numerical analyses using simplified 3D finite element models and mechanical testing were performed. The study found that the lumbar belt is more effective for patients with a thin morphology, mechanical values of vertebral disks and vertebrae are strongly correlated with the correction of lordosis angle, and the overall stiffness of the belt is an important parameter for applying pressure to the trunk.