Behaviour of the spine under shock and vibration: a review

Scientists may be interested in the behaviour of the spine under shock and vibration for a number of reasons. Examples include ejection injury, the ballistics of aircraft ejection seats and the mechanical design of anti-vibration seats. However, it is here assumed that interest is centred primarily on the long term health of the spine as related to vehicle fide, walking and daily living as well as using dynamic loading as a means of increasing understanding of the health of the spine. The intention of this review is to cover very briefly the current position and to discuss some of the problems that researchers have to face up to. To place the discussion in context the framework illustrated in Table 1 will be used for this review.