Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, Japan.
Department of Engineering, Graduate School of Sustainability Science, Tottori University, Japan.
Clin Biomech (Bristol). 2024 Feb;112:106189. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2024.106189. Epub 2024 Jan 28.
Cerebrospinal fluid leakage through the spinal meninges is difficult to diagnose and treat. Moreover, its underlying mechanism remains unknown. Considering that the dura mater is structurally the strongest and outermost membrane among the three-layered meninges, we hypothesized that a dural mechanical tear would trigger spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leakage, especially when a traumatic loading event is involved. Thus, accurate biomechanical properties of the dura mater are indispensable for improving computational models, which aid in predicting blunt impact injuries and creating artificial substitutes for transplantation and surgical training.
We characterized the surface profile of the spinal dura and its mechanical properties (Young's moduli) with a distinction of its inherent anatomical sites (i.e., the cervical and lumbar regions as well as the dorsal and ventral sides of the spinal cord).
Although the obtained Young's moduli exhibited no considerable difference between the aforementioned anatomical sites, our results suggested that the wrinkles structurally formed along the longitudinal direction would relieve stress concentration on the dural surface under in vivo and supraphysiological conditions, enabling mechanical protection of the dural tissue from a blunt impact force that was externally applied to the spine.
This study provides fundamental data that can be used for accurately predicting cerebrospinal fluid leakage due to blunt impact trauma.
脑脊液通过脊髓脑膜渗漏很难诊断和治疗。此外，其潜在机制仍不清楚。考虑到硬脑膜在三层脑膜中结构最强且最外层，我们假设硬脑膜的机械撕裂会引发自发性脑脊液渗漏，特别是当涉及创伤性加载事件时。因此，准确的硬脑膜生物力学特性对于改进计算模型是必不可少的，这有助于预测钝性冲击损伤，并为移植和手术训练创造人工替代品。
我们通过区分脊髓硬脑膜的固有解剖部位（即颈椎和腰椎区域以及脊髓的背侧和腹侧），对其表面轮廓及其机械性能（杨氏模量）进行了特征描述。
尽管上述解剖部位的杨氏模量没有明显差异，但我们的结果表明，沿纵向形成的皱纹会在体内和超生理条件下减轻硬脑膜表面的应力集中，从而使硬脑膜组织免受施加在脊柱上的钝性冲击力的机械损伤。
这项研究提供了基本数据，可用于准确预测因钝性冲击创伤导致的脑脊液渗漏。
