# Disc mechanics and altered loading in degeneration

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · 2022 · $418,468

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The function of the intervertebral disc is mechanical. but disc pathology and LBP is currently evaluated in
terms of structural changes, “structural degeneration (s-degen)”, observed from static images, and not in
terms of mechanical function changes. While s-degen is considered to be related to pathology, it has had
little clinical success discriminating pathology from natural aging. Ex vivo studies have found s-degen is related
to progressive degradation of material properties that implies loss of mechanical function, “functional
degeneration (f-degen)”, but f-degen remains unquantified in vivo because there is no technique to measure
it. Lack of information regarding in vivo mechanics hinders matching symptoms to individual discs and,
furthermore, translation of ex vivo results and models to the in vivo context. To study and treat LBP, a
technique needs to be developed to quantify disc mechanical function in vivo. MRI is the preferred non-
invasive platform to study and diagnose disc health. Unfortunately, current MRI assessment based on a single
supine posture is insufficient to assess disc mechanical function. Mechanical function must be determined by
how the disc responds to changes in loading state. Therefore, MRI studies of the disc performed under loading
states brought about by different spine positions could be used to quantify disc mechanics in vivo. There is a
critical need to develop and apply a quantitative, noninvasive in vivo assessment of disc mechanical function
and f-degen. The consequence of failing to address this need is hindering efforts to determine mechanisms of
disc pathology and to develop and assess new therapies. The goal of this proposal, is to noninvasively quantify
disc mechanical function in vivo and establish a new degeneration classification that incorporates f-degen
(mechanical function changes) in addition to subject traits (age, sex) and s-degen (structural changes), and to
predict the disc's internal stress and strain for in vivo movements. The central hypothesis is that aging and disc
degeneration are related to altered mechanical function as assessed in vivo from changes in MRI variables
with prescribed loading (morning-to-evening and supine-to-flexed/extended). We propose to:
Aim 1: Quantify functional degeneration (f-degen) from in vivo MRI changes between loading states.
Aim 2: Create an ex vivo ↔ in vivo translation by replicating in vivo deformation states in separate ex
vivo donor specimens. Correlate MRI f-degen with degradation in disc- and tissue-scale material properties.
Aim 3: Predict disc stress and strain for in vivo movements using a finite element model linked to MRI.
Completion of these aims will yield a new in vivo image-based statistical classification of normal and
degenerative disc function. It will provide meaningful and predictive relationships describing human disc
physiology and pathophysiology, replacing the inadequate structural grading systems that are the curr...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10014564
- **Project number:** 5R01AR050052-12
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
- **Principal Investigator:** DAWN M ELLIOTT
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $418,468
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2005-02-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10014564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10014564, Disc mechanics and altered loading in degeneration (5R01AR050052-12). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10014564. Licensed CC0.

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