Abstract:

BACKGROUND: At present, the study of sleeping position and the height of pillow are mainly concentrated in the clinical aspects using survey, measurement and imaging methods. However, the study on the effect of sleeping position and the height of pillow on cervical spine stress by three-dimensional finite element method is rarely reported.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of sleeping position and pillow height on the stress of cervical spine by using the mathematical simulation method.
METHODS: Mimics 10.0, Geomagic Studio 11.0 and Hypermesh 10.0 softwares were used to establish the three-dimensional finite element model of the whole cervical spine based on the raw data from CT images of a normal human’s head and neck. The stress properties of cervical spine under different pillow heights were analyzed by Abaqus 6.10 while sleeping on the back and side, respectively.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Both sleeping position and pillow height exhibited a significant influence on the stress of cervical spine. The maximum stress value of intervertebral disc under supine lying was higher than that of side lying with the same pillow height. The stress of cervical vertebrae and intervertebral disc increased with the increasing of pillow height under the same sleeping position. From the viewpoint of biomechanics of cervical spine stress, side lying was more helpful to cervical health than supine lying, and the pillow height under supine lying should be lower than that of side lying.