Minimization of Chronic Back Pain in Military Pilots and Vehicle Occupants

Low back pain while piloting military air vehicles is a significant operational and health problem. Seating, task posture and vibration are considered major lumbar pain contributors. The asymptomatic pilot starts to experience pain and repeated painful episodes lead to pain sensitization and chronic pain with possible damage. Pilot readiness is reduced and operational availability impacted. Enhanced pilot operational performance and health may be accomplished through improvements in crew station, seating, procedure enhancements, and training. In this effort CFDRC will develop and integrate scalable human body and spine biomechanics models with pain neurobiology and subjective response mathematical models to simulate the occupant response to the inertial and positional stressors. Pain assessment combines subjective response with mechanical, physiological and biochemical mechanisms of nociception, neuronal transmission, sensitization and perception of pain in spinal structures including intervertebral discs, spinal nerves, ligaments and muscles and facets. . This multi-scale human body, spinal column and pain model will be used to design seating systems and modifications that will minimize the occupant pain response to inertial and vibration loads and seating (geometry and cushions) while wearing restraints and protective clothing/equipment. The validated model will be used to analyze existing operational procedures and propose improved operational guidelines.