Intervertebral disc degeneration: an experimental and numerical study using a rabbit model.

Animal models have been extensively used for the study of degenerative diseases and evaluation of new therapies to stop or even reverse the disease progression. The aim of this study is to reproduce lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration in a rabbit model by performing a percutaneous annular puncture at L4L5 level. The effect of this damage on the spine behaviour was analysed combining three different techniques: imaging processing, mechanical testing and computational modelling.