The examination of soft tissue compliance in the thoracic region for the development of a spinal manipulation training mannequin.

Purpose: To determine if the soft tissue compliance of the thoracic paraspinal musculature differs based on gender and body type to help create a foam human analogue mannequin to assist in the training of spinal manipulative therapy.

Methods: 54 volunteers were grouped based on their gender and body types. In the prone position, thoracic paraspinal soft tissue compliance was measured at T1, T3 T6, T9 and T12 vertebrae levels bilaterally using a tissue compliance meter.

Results: There was no significant difference in tissue compliance when comparing the genders except at T1 (p=0.026). When comparing body types, significantly higher tissue compliance was found between endomorphs and the other groups. No significant difference was found between ectomorphs and mesomorphs. The compliance for the participants in this study ranged from 0.122 mm/N to 0.420 mm/N.

Conclusion: There are significant differences in thoracic spine soft tissue compliance in healthy asymptomatic patients between genders in the upper thoracic spine, and between different body types throughout the thoracic spine. It may be beneficial to create multiple versions of practice mannequins to simulate variations amongst different patients.