About
The Spine Biomechanics Group (SBG)
The Spine Biomechanics group aims to improve patients' musculoskeletal health by investigating how disease, aging, and injury degrade spinal tissues' biomechanics and function and exploring computational and imaging methods to evaluate this degradation from clinical imaging. Our goal is to use these studies to develop precision-based, patient-specific diagnostic protocols to aid patient management and the development of new treatment modalities.
Members of the SBG collaborate with other departments within Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, with other researchers at the Harvard Medical School and local universities such as Harvard, MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst and with researchers and clinicians throughout the world.
Research at SBG
The Spine Biomechanics Group studies how cancer, aging, injury and disability affect the biomechanical function and failure of the human spine. Our group combines strengths in experimental and computational biomechanics, image analyses and machine learning methods. Our long-term goal is to develop precision diagnostics to aid individualized patient management. The group's research focus is on several interrelated areas:
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Contributing to current understanding of how cancer, aging and degenerative disease affect spinal tissues' composition and structure in the context of the spine's physical function and, ultimately, its failure in clinical conditions such as cancer, Osteoporosis, Degenerative Intervertebral disc disease, Spinal deformity, pathologies and Patient frailty and fall-related events.
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Developing advanced computational and musculoskeletal approaches for efficient, patient-specific evaluation of spinal loading, patterns of spinal motion and resulting instability, cancer and degenerative spine pain. These efforts incorporate the development and application of machine-learning methods to allow efficient, clinically feasible single and multi-modality clinical imaging necessary for analyses of large-scale cohorts and in multi-institutional studies.
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Biomechanics, computational- and image-based evaluation of surgical interventions and treatments (radiotherapy, vertebral augmentation and antiresorptive agents).
Through these efforts, our group aims to develop precision, patient-specific, diagnostic protocols and new treatment modalities to improve prevention, reduce patients' disability and aid patient management by restoring musculoskeletal health.
