Clinical biomechanics
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Clinical biomechanics · Mar 1998
The mechanical properties of human alar and transverse ligaments at slow and fast extension rates.
To study biomechanics and failure characteristics of the alar and transverse ligaments of the upper cervical spine at two different extension rates. DESIGN. IN VITRO: biomechanical study using human and alar and transverse ligament specimens. ⋯ Within the physiological limits, the strain and energy absorbed decreased to less than one tenth, while the stiffness increased to greater than ten times as the extension rate increased, for both the alar and transverse ligaments. When failed at the faster rate, the alar ligament, although weaker of the two, absorbed greater energy to failure because of its higher failure strain.