[Biomechanical experiments for measuring traction lengthening of the lumbar spine during weight bath therapy].

Introduction: Weight-bath as an effective traction therapy has successfully been applied in Hungary for nearly a half century, however, it has still been constrained exclusively to empirical bases until the numerical biomechanical analysis of Bene and Kurutz appeared in 1993. Due to their calculations, for cervical suspension in traction bath, the value and distribution of tensile force along the spine became known, however, the most important information, namely, the deformation of spine segments to be stretched by the therapy is so far unknown.

Aims: In this paper the results of a wide-ranging in vivo biomechanical experimental analysis are presented, aimed partly to obtain the traction deformation effects of weight-bath therapy, partly to obtain the biomechanical traction model of human lumbar segments.