Analysis of selected mechanical properties of intervertebral disc annulus fibrosus in macro and microscopic scale

The main goal of this paper is experimental analysis of selected mechanical properties of single annulus fibrosus lamellae at macroscopic and micro-scopic levels as well as representation and explanation of the structural response to forced deformation. The conducted analysis of single annulus fibrosus lamella with preserved natural attachments revealed two charac-teristic mechanisms leading to damage of annulus fibrosus and large diver-sification of conventional Young’s modulus. The analysis in a microscopic level enable the imaging of changes in the collagen matrix during a tensile test and of significant differences in mechanical properties with respect to tensile direction. Key words: spine, intervertebral disc, tensile test, structural configuration 1