Abstract:

BACKGROUND: The research of in vivo kinematics of the cervical spine can obtain the characteristics of cervical motion in physiological load by invasive or non-invasive method, which will provide the guidelines and reference for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with cervical degeneration diseases.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the current research methods and their respective characteristics of in vivo kinematics of the cervical spine.
METHODS: The computer-based search was done in PubMed database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) and Wanfang database (http://www.wanfangdata.com.cn) for articles published with the English key words of “Spine, cervical, in vivo motion” and the Chinese key words of “Spine, cervical, measurement, rang of motion”. Ultimately a total of 238 literatures were searched and 30 literatures were included for review according to inclusion and exclusion criteria.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The research of in vivo kinematics of the cervical spine can obtain the quantitative data of each joint 6DOF of the cervical vertebra. It has an important role in improving the level of awareness of cervical movement in physiological load, knowing more about the kinematic characteristics of cervical spine degeneration and optimizing the clinical diagnosis and treatment programme of cervical diseases. At the same time, it can provide indispensable data for the development of artificially vertebral articulatory and internal fixation, especially the fusion of internal fixation. The research of in vivo kinematics of the cervical spine has been investigated by using X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, electromagnetism and so on. However, the present data cannot provide a reference standard for understanding normal conditions. The future research of in vivo kinematics of the cervical spine needs to be advanced gradually.