A Method of Predicting Posture-related Pain Using Biomechanical Parameters for Patients with Lumbar Spinal Disc Herniation

Lumbar spinal disc herniation is a disease in which the protruding nucleus pulposus presses on the nerve due to actions that place loads on the disc, causing pain in the lower back and lower limbs. About 80% of treatments of disc herniation are conservative treatments, and although it is necessary to live with pain for a long time, there have been no studies that clearly define the relationship between pain and biomechanical parameters. In this study, we proposed a method of identifying biomechanical parameters that predict posture-related pain in patients with lumbar spinal disc herniation. The pain values were quantitatively evaluated by the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the biomechanical parameters were analyzed by OpenSim. Lasso regression was performed to narrow down the biomechanical parameters that were related to pain and derive the mathematical model of the relationship. Therefore, many of the parameters of the obtained mathematical model were related to the lumbar spine and were consistent with areas that be related to lumbar spinal disc herniation.