Veres, Samuel Peter2009-12-222009-12-222009Thesis (PhD--Chemical and Materials Engineering)--University of Auckland, 2009.http://hdl.handle.net/2292/5616While several mechanical disruption studies of lumbar intervertebral discs have previously been carried out in vitro, none have sought to examine the microstructure of the resulting tissue failures. Consequently, how various spinal postures during loading and various loading rates for a given posture affect the disc's internal failure mechanics has yet to be documented. In the studies contained herein, ovine lumbar intervertebral discs have been mechanically disrupted by injecting radio-opaque gel into their nucleus via an injection screw inserted longitudinally through their inferior vertebra. The resulting disruption caused to each disc was subsequently examined using microcomputed tomography and microscopy in tandem.Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htmThesis2009-12-22Copyright: The authorQ112882559