ArticleEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2023
Effects of a microgravity SkinSuit on lumbar geometry and kinematics.
Article in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hyper-buoyancy flotation increases cervical disc height and reduces vertebral stiffness, with only partial reversal after acute 1 g axial loading.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- 50% body weight loading reduces stature increases and lumbar disc expansion from 4 h hyper-buoyancy floatation versus 15 min sitting upright.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Advances in the Measurement and Interpretation of Intervertebral Motion in the Lumbar Spine: A Scoping Review.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Microgravity as a translational model for metabolic dysfunction: implications for obesity, insulin resistance, steatotic liver and pancreatic diseases.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Elastic textile-based wearable modulation of musculoskeletal load: A comprehensive review of passive exosuits and resistance clothing.Wearable technologies · 2025Review
- Adaptation of thoracic and lumbar curvature and spinal muscle activity under changing gravity.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Article
- Lunar and mars gravity induce similar changes in spinal motor control as microgravity.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAstronauts returning from long ISS missions have demonstrated an increased incidence of lumbar disc herniation accompanied by biomechanical and morphological changes associated with spine elongation. This research describes a ground-based study of the effects of an axial compression countermeasure Mk VI SkinSuit designed to reload the spine and reduce these changes before return to terrestrial gravity.
methodsTwenty healthy male volunteers aged 21-36 without back pain participated. Each lay overnight on a Hyper Buoyancy Flotation (HBF) bed for 12 h on two occasions 6 weeks apart. On the second occasion participants donned a Mk VI SkinSuit designed to axially load the spine at 0.2 Gz during the last 4 h of flotation. Immediately after each exposure, participants received recumbent MRI and flexion-extension quantitative fluoroscopy scans of their lumbar spines, measuring differences between spine geometry and intervertebral kinematics with and without the SkinSuit. This was followed by the same procedure whilst weight bearing. Paired comparisons were performed for all measurements.
resultsFollowing Mk VI SkinSuit use, participants evidenced more flexion RoM at L3-4 (p = 0.01) and L4-5 (p = 0.003), more translation at L3-4 (p = 0.02), lower dynamic disc height at L5-S1 (p = 0.002), lower lumbar spine length (p = 0.01) and greater lordosis (p = 0.0001) than without the Mk VI SkinSuit. Disc cross-sectional area and volume were not significantly affected.
conclusionThe MkVI SkinSuit restores lumbar mobility and lordosis following 4 h of wearing during hyper buoyancy flotation in a healthy control population and may be an effective countermeasure for post space flight lumbar disc herniation.
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