FIG. 1.

An isolated rat lumbar spine was placed in the prone position on a micro-computed tomography (μCT)-compatible apparatus consisting of a sacral fixation jig (a) and a loading mechanism (b) to create different medial-lateral bending positions. The L1 vertebral body was displaced in the medial or lateral direction by applying a point displacement via a single set screw over the surrounding muscle layers, with anterior–posterior displacement being restricted by flat-ended spacers. The loading mechanism was set to three different positions (arrow): left-bending (c, +10.0 mm), neutral (0 mm), and right-bending (d, −10.0 mm). Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tec