• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.292-296
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the exercise effect of two types of training with a recumbent cycle ergometer on ankle muscle strength (dorsiflexor strength, DFS; dorsiflexor strength/weight, DFS/kg; plantar flexor strength, PFS; and plantar flexor strength/weight, PFS/kg) in healthy male subjects. Methods: Twenty-three healthy males (27.91±8.66 yr) were randomly allocated into two groups (high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and aerobic exercise training (AET) after the first measurement. The subjects were trained for 24 sessions (40 min/rep, three times/week) and ankle strength was measured for a second time. Two-way mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify significant differences between changes in ankle muscle strength between before and after training (within factors) in the HIIT and AET groups (between factors). The statistical significance level was set at α=0.05. Results: In both HIIT and AET groups, all variables of ankle muscle strength were significantly increased after training compared to before training (p=0.001). However, there were no differences in all variables of ankle strength between the HIIT and AET group (p>0.05). Conclusion: Both types (HIIT and AET) of recumbent cycle exercise training could be effective training methods to increase ankle muscle strength in healthy individuals, and the HIIT type with high intensity and low frequency pedaling could be recommended more to strengthen ankle muscles.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.1185-1186
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• 2012

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.503-509
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• 2015

In this paper, we designed and tested an ankle joint mechanism for a gait rehabilitation robot. Gait rehabilitation programs are designed to improve the natural leg motion of patients who have lost their walking capabilities by accident or disease. Strengthening the muscles of the lower-limbs and stimulation of the nervous system corresponding to walking helps patients to walk again using gait assistive devices. It is an obvious requirement that the rehabilitation system's motion should be similar to and as natural as the normal gait. However, the system being used for gait rehabilitation does not pay much attention to ankle joints, which play an important role in correct walking as the motion of the ankle should reflect the movement of the center of gravity (COG) of the body. Consequently, we have designed an ankle mechanism that ensures the safety of the patient as well as efficient gait training. Also, even patients with low leg muscle strength are able to operate the ankle joint due to the direct-drive mechanism without a reducer. This safety feature prevents any possible adverse load on the human ankle. The additional degree of freedom for the roll motion achieves a gait pattern which is similar to the normal gait and with a greater degree of comfort.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.191-200
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• 2021

Purpose : Chronic ankle instability can lead to problems in balance and gait due to weakness of the ankle muscles and decreased proprioceptive sensation. Balance training that stimulates proprioceptors is necessary to improve ankle stability. We aimed to compare the effects of unstable support balance exercises using whole body sonic vibration and an aero-step (TOGU) on proprioception and balance in individuals with unilateral functional ankle instability. Methods : Thirty-six participants with unilateral functional ankle instability were randomly recruited and divided into two groups (group 1 = sonic whole body vibration, group 2= TOGU). Individuals in each group participated in training for 5 weeks, 40 minutes per session, 5 times per week, and performed weight-bearing exercises in five postures on different unstable support surfaces. Proprioception was measured by digital inclinometer (Dualer IQ), and balance was measured by force platform (Biodex balance system). Results : Significant differences were observed in proprioception before and after intervention within both group (p<.05). Significant differences were also observed in the balance index before and after intervention within both groups (p<.05). Conclusion : As a result of this study, it is suggested that for individuals with ankle instability, unstable support surface training using a whole body sonic vibrator and TOGU can have a positive effects on proprioception and balance ability.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.2 s.191
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• pp.64-72
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• 2007

Many human-body motions such as walking, running, jumping, etc. require a significant amount of power. To achieve a high power-to-weight ratio of the humanoid robot system, this paper proposes a new design of the bio-mimetic leg mechanism resembling musculoskeletal system of the human body. The hip joints of the system considered here are powered by 5 human-like bi-and mono-articular muscles, and the joints of knee and ankle are redundantly actuated by both bi-articular muscles and joint actuators. The kinematics for the leg mechanism is derived and a kinematic index to measure force transmission ratio is introduced. It is demonstrated through simulation that incorporation of redundant muscles into the leg mechanism enhances the power of the mechanism approximately 2 times of the minimum actuation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2014

PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of virtual reality training on muscle activation in the elderly. METHODS: The subjects were 32 healthy elderly people aged between 65 and 80, who were divided into the VR(virtual reality) training group(n=17) and the control group(n=15). The Virtual reality training group engaged in a 30-minute exercise session using Wii Fit three times a week for eight weeks. Virtual reality training group used the Ski Slalom, Table tile, Balance bubble programs. low-extremity muscle activation of the two groups were measured before and after the intervention. RESULTS: To investigate the effects of the training on lower-extremity muscle activation, biceps femoris, gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, vastus lateralis were measured. The results revealed that the activation of gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior significantly increased(p<.05), which indicates virtual reality training is effective in improving the activation of the muscles involved in the movement of the ankle joint. CONCLUSION: Virtual reality training is effective in improving the healthy elderly's activation of the muscles involved in the movement of the ankle joint. Thus, virtual reality training can be proposed as a form of fall prevention exercise for the elderly.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.16-26
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the various knee angles and ground state on the muscular activities and fatigue of the ankle muscles by integrated electromyograms (iEMG) and median frequency of tibialis anterior (TA), peroneus longus (PL), flexor digitorum longus (FDL) and gastrocnemius (GC). Ten healthy male subjects were participated into stable and balance ball sessions at four angles of knee joint. The surface electromyograms (sEMG) were recorded from the TA, PL, FDL and GC on stable and balance ball with full weight bearing at four knee angles of $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$. The time serial data of the surface electromyographic signals were transformed into integrated and frequency serial data by fast fourier transformation. On the stable ground, the iEMG signals of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly higher at $45^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ of knee angles than $0^{\circ}$ and $15^{\circ}$ of knee flexion (p<0.05). On the balance ball, the iEMG of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly higher at $45^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ of knee angles than $0^{\circ}$ and $15^{\circ}$ of knee flexion (p<0.05). The median frequency of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly lower at $45^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ of knee angles than $0^{\circ}$ and $15^{\circ}$ of knee on the stable ground (p<0.05). On the balance ball, also the median frequency of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly lower at $45^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ of knee angles than $0^{\circ}$ and $15^{\circ}$ of knee flexion (p<0.05). The iEMG of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly higher on the balance ball at $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$ of knee angles compared with stable ground. The median frequency of the TA, PL, FDL and GC were significantly lower on the balance ball at $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$ of knee angles compared with stable ground. These results indicate that the ground conditions and angles of the knee joint involved to muscular activities and fatigue of ankles muscles, may performed at first on stable ground and then balance ball in order to $0^{\circ}$, $15^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$ of knee flexion.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combining Mulligan taping and flossing bands on lower limb muscle activity and static and dynamic balance. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: Sixty-eight patients with chronic ankle instability were randomized into three groups that were treated with Mulligan taping (MT, n=22), flossing band (FB, n=23) and Mulligan taping combined with flossing band (MT+FB, n=23), and various parameters were compared before and after the intervention. The muscle activity of the lower extremities, including the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus and medial of gastrocnemius muscles was measured using BTS FREE EMG 1000, while the static and dynamic balance were measured using the Biorscuue balance measuring equipment. Results: There was a significant difference in muscle activity of the tibialis anterior muscle, before and after the intervention, in the MT group (p<0.01), FB (p<0.001) and MT+FB (p<0.001). There was also a significant difference in the muscle activity of the tibialis anterior muscle in the MT+FB group when compared with that in MT and FB groups (p<0.05). We also observed a significant difference in the dynamic balance all the groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Therefore, combining Mulligan taping and flossing bands for patients with chronic ankle instability may improve dynamic balance and tibialis anterior muscle activity.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of foam roller (FR) stretching, kinesiotaping (KT), and dynamic stretching (DS) on gait parameters after inducing muscle fatigue in the ankle joint. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The subjects were thirty healthy young adults between the ages of 20 and 31 years at Baekseok University who voluntarily participated in this study. The participants were randomly assigned to either the FR group, KT group, or the DS group after inducing muscle fatigue of the ankle joint. Fatigue induction of the ankle joint muscles was performed by alternating a heel up and down exercise with the standing posture on the ground. The speed was maintained at 40 beats/minute using a metronome. Subsequently, the respective intervention was applied to each group. Gait parameters were measured before and after ankle muscle fatigue induction, and after intervention using the GAITRite system. One-way ANOVA was used to compare gait parameters among groups, while repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare gait parameters within each intervention group. Results: The FR group increased significantly in velocity, step length, and stride length except for cadence after intervention compared to after ankle muscle fatigue induction (p<0.01). Furthermore, the KT group showed significant increases in velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length after intervention, especially in cadence group (p<0.05). All intervention groups showed significant increases in stride length after intervention, especially the DS group (p<0.05). Conclusions: Therefore, we suggest that KT, FR, and DS can be an effective intervention on gait parameters when the ankle joint is unstable and injured.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2019

Objective: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wearing an ankle weight belt while performing gait in water by focusing on the effect of using ankle weights have on the gait kinematics and the muscle activities for developing optimum training strategies. Method: A total of 10 healthy male university students were recruited for the study. Each participant was instructed to perform 3 gait conditions; normal walking over ground, walking in water chest height, and walking in water chest height while using ankle weights. All walking conditions were set at control speed of $4km/h{\pm}0.05km/h$. The depth of the swimming pool was at 1.3 m, approximately chest height. The motion capture data was recorded using 6 digital cameras and the EMG was recorded using waterproof Mini Wave. From the motion capture data, the following variables were calculated for analysis; double and single support phase (s), swing phase (s), step length (%height), step rate (m/s), ankle, knee, and hip joint angles ($^{\circ}$). From the electromyography the %RVC of the lower limb muscles medial gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, erector spinae, semitendinosus, tibialis anterior, vastus lateralis oblique was calculated. Results: The results show significant differences between the gait time, and step length between the right and left leg. Additionally, the joint angular velocities and gait velocity were significantly affected by the water resistance. As expected, the use of the ankle weights increased all of the lower leg maximum muscle activities except for the lower back muscle. Conclusion: In conclusion, the ankle weights can be shown to stimulate more muscle activity during walking in chest height water and therefore, may be useful for rehabilitation purposes.