ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND; Long-term exposure to low-frequency vibration environment generated by vehicle driving is harmful to human lumbar health, and parts of drivers have suffered from lumbar degeneration. However, the damage mechanism of low-frequency vibration generated by vehicle driving on degenerated lumbar spines with different grades has not been studied clearly. OBJECTIVE; To determine the effects of low-frequency vibration on the degenerated lumbar spines with different degrees by comparing the mechanical responses of the same lumbar spine under the vibrations at different frequencies and different lumbar spines under the same vibration. METHODS; To simulate the mechanical responses of lumbar spines under low-frequency vibration, four typical finite element models of human lumbar spine with different degrees of degeneration were established, and low-frequency vibrations generated by vehicle driving were applied on these models. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The damping effects of four lumbar spines were better under a short period of vibration, but the mechanical properties of the moderately and severely degenerated lumbar spines degraded significantly when the vibration time was long. Therefore, the drivers with moderately and severely degenerated lumbar spines were not suitable for long-term low-frequency vibration. (2) As the degree of lumbar degeneration aggravated, the lumbar natural frequency gradually decreased. (3) Excluding the resonant frequency, the changes in the mechanical properties of the same lumbar spine under the vibrations at different frequencies were tiny, suggesting that no differences in the mechanical performance of lumbar spine existed when driving on different well-paving roads in one vehicle.