Yoon Hyuk Kim

There are several widely used devices for controlled contusion of the spinal cord, including the Ohio State University device, the University of British Columbia multi-mechanisms injury device, the New York University (NYU) impactor, and the Infinite Horizon (IH) impactor. Although various devices and protocols have been used to generate consistent injury severities, further investigation of the relationship between the key parameters of different spinal cord injury (SCI) contusion devices (e.g.

Clinically, spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are radiographically evaluated and diagnosed from plain radiographs, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging. However, it is difficult to conclude that radiographic evaluation of SCI can directly explain the fundamental mechanism of spinal cord damage. The von-Mises stress and maximum principal strain are directly associated with neurological damage in the spinal cord from a biomechanical viewpoint. In this study, the von-Mises stress and

The human cervical spine is a complex structure that is the most frequently injured site among all spinal injuries. Therefore, understanding of the cervical spine injury and dysfunction, and also biomechanical response to external stimuli is important. Finite element (FE) modeling can help researchers to access the internal stresses and strains in the bones, ligaments and soft tissues more realistically, and it has been widely adopted for spine biomechanics research. Although in recent years num

Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) and ossification of the ligamentum flavum (OLF) have been recognized as causes of myelopathy due to thickening of the ligaments resulting in narrowing of the spinal canal and compression of the spinal cord. However, few studies have focused on predicting stress distribution under conditions of OPLL and OLF based on clinical aspects such as the relationship between level of stress and severity of neurologic symptoms because direct in vivo

During computer navigated total knee arthroplasty, pin holes are drilled in the femur and tibia to allow the placement of navigation trackers, and fractures associated with these pin holes have recently been reported. We hypothesized that an increase in stress around the pin holes is one of the most relevant factors contributing to the fracture. In this study, we used finite element analysis to investigate the stresses around femoral pin holes with respect to the mode of pin penetration, the dia

Many clinical case series have reported the predisposing factors for C5 palsy and have presented comparisons of the two types of laminoplasty. However, there have been no biomechanical studies focusing on cervical spinal cord and nerve root following laminoplasty. The purpose of this study is to investigate biomechanical changes in the spinal cord and nerve roots following the two most common types of laminoplasty, open-door and double-door laminoplasty, for cervical ossification of the posterio