• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.393-399
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• 2015

Objective : This study was conducted with an aim to use it as basic data for developing assistive devices, such as insoles that can suppress the progress of degenerative diseases and strategies, to improve early degenerative diseases by assessing walking characteristics of farm workers who were classified as KL-grade in the perspective of motor mechanics. Method : 38 male and female adults who complained of knee joint pain for more than six months were selected, and they were classified according to KL-grade. KL-grade was assessed by an orthopaedic specialist and an occupational environment health specialist. Filming equipment (FX-1, CASIO, Japan) and a ground reaction force system (AMTI OR6, AMTI, USA) were used to identify ground reaction force characteristics, and WOMAC was used for a pain rating scale. Results : There was a difference between the right and left side (axis-X) according to KL-grade, and when the grade was higher, the internal ground reaction force was also higher. Changes in COP were not affected by KL-grade of the knee joint, but it tended to increase as the grade increased. There were differences in the time required for limb support while walking according to the grades, and when the grade was higher, walking was more inefficient with long braking force and short propulsion forces. Also, pain rating scale, the right and left side, and COP changes while in support phase were related. Conclusion : There was a partial, statically significant difference in KL-grade and ground reaction force occurring during the support phase, and there were differences in ground reaction forces according to the grades of degenerative arthritis in the knee joint, indicating that this study is worthy as basic data for future studies.

• 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.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.43-68
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• 2005

The purpose of this study was to report the physical status of adult with cerebral palsy who live in local community areas including Seoul, Busan, Daegu in Republic of Korea at 2004. 202-individuals with cerebral palsy(140 male, 62 female; mean age 31.9 years; range 19 to 64 years) were surveyed. Measures included a 29-item self-reported health status measure focusing on musculoskeletal status and functional performances. Adult cerebral palsy required continuous management for musculoskeletal and ambulatory function through therapeutic approach. This survey is restricted to population who had cared in welfare center for cerebral palsy in local community, so it needs to investigate home-residual adults with cerebral palsy and the population in rural community. The results were as follows: 1. Participants reported that they had a limitation of a daily of life activity due to musculoskeletal pain($43\%$), there was significant differences between a limitation of a daily of life activity and the decreased ambulatory function(p<.05). 2. Thirty six point six percentile of participants had the decreased ADL function, it was significant related with the impaired body location(p<.05) 3. Thirty nine point one percentile of participants who can independently gait had the decreased ambulatory function, it was significant differences with the usage of ambulatory assistive devices(p<.05). 4. There was significant differences ambulatory function both the body region with impairment and a grade of disability(p<.05). 5. Sixteen point three percentile of participants could not ambulate any more, there was significant differences between a age and a point of time for non-ambulation(p<.05). 6. There was significant differences between ambulatory function and physical activity(p<.05).

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.282-290
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• 2013

Objectives: This study aimed to develop a health needs assessment (HNA) tool for persons with brain disorders and to assess the unmet needs of persons with brain disorders using the developed tool. Methods: The authors used consensus methods to develop a HNA tool. Using a randomized stratified systematic sampling method adjusted for sex, age, and districts, 57 registered persons (27 severe and 30 mild cases) with brain disorders dwelling in Seoul, South Korea were chosen and medical specialists investigated all of the subjects with the developed tools. Results: The HNA tool for brain disorders we developed included four categories: 1) medical interventions and operations, 2) assistive devices, 3) rehabilitation therapy, and 4) regular follow-up. This study also found that 71.9% of the subjects did not receive appropriate medical care, which implies that the severity of their disability is likely to be exacerbated and permanent, and the loss irrecoverable. Conclusions: Our results showed that the HNA tool for persons with brain disorders based on unmet needs defined by physicians can be a useful method for evaluating the appropriateness and necessity of medical services offered to the disabled, and it can serve as the norm for providing health care services for disabled persons. Further studies should be undertaken to increase validity and reliability of the tool. Fundamental research investigating the factors generating or affecting the unmet needs is necessary; its results could serve as basis for developing policies to eliminate or alleviate these factors.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.957-962
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• 2005

Today, the elderly is increasing gradually in the Republic of Korea society and this problem will be more serious in the near future. Therefore, engineering support for aged people is required. We are establishing a new field of healthcare engineering for elderly people and aiming to support for aged people and disabled people using adaptive control and instrument technology. In this paper, the goal is to implement the shared control of a robot mobility aid for the elderly. As using this type of assistive technology to be useful by its intended user community, it supports elderly people and handicapped people to live independently in their private homes. The interface transforms the force applied by the user into the robot's motion. Devices like buttons, joysticks, and levers already exist for relaying user input; however, they require hand displacement that would loosen or otherwise release the user's hold. Such interfaces make operation very difficult and potentially unsafe. Therefore, we propose a shared control system. It's safe more than joysticks and buttons. The shared control is a means of registering the user's intention through physical interaction. It's an important component in the development of robotic elderly assistant. The concept of shared control describes a system which is two or more independent control systems. We are using that the three component blocks consist of pressure sensor (flexible force sensor), circuit of measurement and transfer function. Experimental trials of this paper have been tested at the indoor environment. The robot is able to know the user intended direction through haptic device were logged along with the robot's force sensor.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.54-59
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• 2017

Background: Light touch cue is a sensory input that could potentially help in the control of posture. The immediate stimulatory effect of light touch cues using a cane during gait is associated with postural stability. This strategy can help post-stroke individuals regain their ability to perform the sit-to-stand (STS) transfer safely. Objects: The effects of light grip on postural control during the STS transfer in post-stroke subjects were investigated. Methods: Eleven participants (6 men, 5 women) with hemiplegia due to stroke were recruited in the study. The subjects with hemiparesis performed STS transfer in three randomly assigned conditions (1) without a cane (2) light grip with a cane (3) strong grip with a cane. Results: The difference in weight-bearing distribution between the left and right feet, when the subjects were instructed to stand up, was $52.73{\pm}2.13%$ without a cane, $42.75{\pm}3.26%$ with a strong grip, and $43.00{\pm}2.55%$ with a light grip (p<.05). The rate of rise in force indicates the peak power provided by subjects during their STS transfers. The rate of rise in force was statistically significantly lower without a cane than that with a light grip or a strong grip (p<.05). The subjects' centers of pressure sway on the mediolateral side during STS transfers statistically significantly declined with a light grip or a strong grip when compared to those without a cane (p<.05). Conclusion: When the subjects with hemiparesis used a cane during STS transfers, their duration, center of pressure sway, and difference in weight-bearing distribution were all reduced. The subjects also exhibited similar results during STS transfers with a cane gripped lightly. This result may provide guidelines for the use of assistive devices when patients with hemiparesis practice STS transfers in clinical settings.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2020

Specialists have developed pillows that take into account sleep science and ergonomics, such as comfort for lying on your side. This pillow is made of natural latex material, and improved resilience after a certain period of time. A new idea was added to the pillow, which was naturally used for sleep, but could it add additional features for health care. Here, health care targets sleep apnea, which is known to be associated with serious illness. The purpose of this paper is to design a comprehensive service that uses a pressure sensor and a voice sensor to obtain information and to identify abnormal symptoms related to diseases from this information and to refer them to a specialist. It also covers the basic design and implementation to confirm the success of this system. Based on this design, the information obtained will be converted into a DB, and a server system for consultation with a specialist will be completed to upgrade the role of assistive health devices for sleep apnea.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.407-422
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of the study is to develop quantitative usability evaluation criteria for senior-friendly autonomous transportation robot. Background: The Republic of Korea has become the most rapidly aging society, and is anticipated to enter the post-aged society in 2026. To raise the quality of life of a senior with limited mobility and to reduce the burden of caregivers, many high-tech assistive products with information technologies are developed nowadays. The senior-friendly autonomous transportation robot is one person robot vehicle to move a senior to the destination for hospitals, nursing homes or silver town complex. With built-in navigation system and environmental monitoring censors, it automatically seeks the path to the destination and avoids collision to obstacles and pedestrians on the way. Due to the early stage of the product, few usability studies in this field have been done, mostly on general service robots to assist seniors, power wheelchairs and delivery robots. ISO and KS standards for the service robots are focused on safety. Method: Based on the reference usability index, the early draft of the usability evaluation questionnaires was developed. After small group tests and interviews, the experts modified the initial draft to the Usability Evaluation Criteria for Senior-Friendly Autonomous Transportation Robot (UEC-SFATR). Result: UEC-SFATR consisted of 4 subscales - Safety, Controllability, Efficiency and Satisfaction. All of the 4 subscales of UEC-SFATR were passed the reliability criteria by 4 groups of seniors, divided by gender and familiarity of smart-devices. Conclusion: UEC-SFATR covers wider area of user experiences of the SFATR and is a good measurement tool to help both the users and developers of the robot. Application: This study provides guide to the future product development and product competitiveness evaluation by quantifying user experiences for the SFATR.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.217-223
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• 2013

Population aging is a shift in the distribution of a country's population towards older ages. This is usually reflected in an increase in the population's mean and median ages, a decline in the proportion of the population composed of children, and a rise in the proportion of the population that is elderly. Population ageing is widespread across the world. Barrier-free or Design for All concept consists of modifying buildings or facilities so that they can be used by people who are disabled or have physical impairments. Design for All criteria are aimed at ensuring that everyone can participate in the Information society. Safety-related products being easy to adapt according to different needs, or using standardized interfaces that can be accessed simply by using assistive technology. To this end, policy makers and service providers, especially in the ubiquitous technologies, produce new technologies, products, services and applications for pedestrians.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.93-95
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• 2013

The conventional assistive tool for visually impaired people provide Simple service using a ultrasound, or an RFID tag to identify the obstacles. It is impossible to clear guide and has a vulnerability to unforeseen circumstances because of short recognition distance, The ARM Cortex-A9 Platform based implementation of the Portable Navigation System and Service Center will help the visually impaired gait. The Service Center will also provide solution for the lack of jobs due to the increase of the aging population. Navigation System that the visually impaired can carry possessing devices such as a camera, GPS, Audio, Ethernet transmit Image shown at the location of the visually impaired, GPS information and Sound Via TCP / IP. The staff of the service center receives information and can provide directions by communicating with them. So, the system can provide effective guidance to the visually impaired.