454 Computational Modelling of Biomechanics and Biotribology
and has been the topic of extensive research (McNally and Adams, 1992;
Wilke et al ., 2003).
Numerical models have been used to simulate physiological loads and
motions of the spine by using simpli ed boundary conditions, such as combi-
nations of axial loads (Shirazi-Adl et al ., 1986), pure moments (most studies
reported so far), follower loads (Rohlmann et al ., 2009a), or follower loads
combined with pure moments (Rohlmann et al ., 2009b). The follower load
aimed to represent the contribution of body weight in combination with the
stabilizing action of muscles, and led to intradiscal pressure predictions that
could be related to in vivo measurements for different physical activities ...