Varrassi Giustino, Leoni Matteo Luigi Giuseppe, Al-Alwany Ameen Abdulhasan, Sarzi Puttini Piercarlo, Farì Giacomo
Fondazione Paolo Procacci, 00193 Roma, Italy.
College of Medicine, University of Baghdad, Baghdad 10071, Iraq.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2025 Aug 22;12(9):900. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering12090900.
Low back pain (LBP) remains one of the most prevalent and disabling musculoskeletal conditions globally, with profound social, economic, and healthcare implications. The rising incidence and chronic nature of LBP highlight the need for more objective, personalized, and effective approaches to assessment and rehabilitation. In this context, bioengineering has emerged as a transformative field, offering novel tools and methodologies that enhance the understanding and management of LBP. This narrative review examines current bioengineering applications in both diagnostic and therapeutic domains. For assessment, technologies such as wearable inertial sensors, three-dimensional motion capture systems, surface electromyography, and biomechanical modeling provide real-time, quantitative insights into posture, movement patterns, and muscle activity. On the therapeutic front, innovations including robotic exoskeletons, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, virtual reality-based rehabilitation, and tele-rehabilitation platforms are increasingly being integrated into multimodal treatment protocols. These technologies support precision medicine by tailoring interventions to each patient's biomechanical and functional profile. Furthermore, the incorporation of artificial intelligence into clinical workflows enables automated data analysis, predictive modeling, and decision support systems, while future directions such as digital twin technology hold promise for personalized simulation and outcome forecasting. While these advancements are promising, further validation in large-scale, real-world settings is required to ensure safety, efficacy, and equitable accessibility. Ultimately, bioengineering provides a multidimensional, data-driven framework that has the potential to significantly improve the assessment, rehabilitation, and overall management of LBP.
腰痛(LBP)仍然是全球最普遍且使人致残的肌肉骨骼疾病之一,具有深远的社会、经济和医疗保健影响。腰痛发病率的上升及其慢性特征凸显了对更客观、个性化和有效评估及康复方法的需求。在这种背景下,生物工程已成为一个变革性领域,提供了新的工具和方法,增强了对腰痛的理解和管理。这篇叙述性综述考察了生物工程在诊断和治疗领域的当前应用。在评估方面,可穿戴惯性传感器、三维运动捕捉系统、表面肌电图和生物力学建模等技术能对姿势、运动模式和肌肉活动提供实时、定量的见解。在治疗方面,包括机器人外骨骼、神经肌肉电刺激、虚拟现实康复和远程康复平台等创新正越来越多地被纳入多模式治疗方案。这些技术通过根据每个患者的生物力学和功能特征量身定制干预措施来支持精准医学。此外,将人工智能纳入临床工作流程可实现自动化数据分析、预测建模和决策支持系统,而数字孪生技术等未来发展方向有望实现个性化模拟和结果预测。虽然这些进展很有前景,但需要在大规模真实环境中进行进一步验证,以确保安全性、有效性和公平可及性。最终,生物工程提供了一个多维的、数据驱动的框架,有可能显著改善腰痛的评估、康复和整体管理。