• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.113-121
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of forefoot rocker shoes equipped with a metatarsal bar on lower extremity muscle activity and plantar pressure distribution. Ten healthy women in the age of twenties were participated in this study as the subjects. All subjects walked on a treadmill(Gait Trainer, BIODEX, USA) wearing normal shoes and metatarsal bar shoes, during which the plantar pressure distribution and muscle activity were measured. Using Pedar-X system(Novel Gmbh, Germany), the plantar pressure was measured for six regions of the foot: forefoot, midfoot, rearfoot, 1st metatarsal, 2-3th metatarsal, and 4-5th metatarsal, and for each sub-region, 4 features such as maximum force, contact area, peak pressure, and mean pressure were analyzed based on the plantar pressure. EMG(Electromyography) activity was measured by attaching surface electrodes to the rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius medial head, and magnitude of muscle contraction was analyzed in IEMG(Integrated EMG) value. The results show that the maximum force, contact area, peak pressure, and mean pressure in the midfoot all increased while maximum force, peak pressure, contact area, mean pressure in the 1st metatarsal and 2-3th metatarsal all decreased when wearing functional shoes. Also, muscle activities in the four muscles were all decreased when wearing the functional shoes. This paper suggests that forfoot rocker shoes equipped with a metatarsal bar can help disperse the high pressure and absorb the shock to the foot as well as give positive influence on gait pattern and postural stability by reducing muscle fatigue during walking.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.1 s.173
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• pp.118-123
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• 2000

Most quadruped walking robots under current research are individually controlling every joint ic make them step or walk according to an integrated strategy. Such methods are characterized by at least one pair of an actuator and a sensor installed per each 'oint so that the robots weigh execssively and move inefficiently in terms of energy expenditure. In addition, the task of controlling all the joints simultaneously is quite complex and prone to destabilize the robot motion. These respects keep the existing walking robots away from realistic applications such as transportation even if they have potentially, outstanding adaptability to swamps or uneven terrains as opposed to wheeled vehicles. So, this paper presents a new conceptual quadruped robot developed to walk and steer only with a minimal number of actuators owing to a closed-chain mechanism. To prove its actual performance including the adaptability to various types of terrains. experiments are done with the mammal-type prototype. And. it is also shown that the same concept can be easily extended to carry out different gait forms. for instance, that of spiders only with minor modifications.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 2020

Objective: The study aimed to develop a functional performance index that evaluates the functional performance of Parkinson's patients, i.e., to integrate biomechanical measurements of walking, balance, muscle strength and tremor, and to use multiple linear regression with stepwise methods to identify the most suitable predictors for the progression of disease. Method: A total of 60 subjects were tested for sub-variables of four factors: walking, balance, isometric strength and hand tremors. Potential independet variables were extracted through correlation analysis of the sub-variables and dependent variables, Hoehn & Yahr scale. And then, a stepwise multiple regression analysis using the potential independent variables was performed to identify predictor of Hoehn & Yahr scale. Results: First, the results of the study showed that physical composition and gait had a relatively more correlated with the progression of the disease, compared to balance and hand tremor. Second, Parkinson's functional performance is characterized by dynamic pattern of walking, such as foot clearance and turning angle (TA) of walking, and a high-explained regression model is completed. Conclusion: The study emphasized the importance of walking variables and body composition in minor pathological features compared to Parkinson's patient's balancing ability and hand tremor. Specifically, it revealed that dynamic walking patterns functionally characterize patients. The results are worth considering when assessing functional performance related to the progression of the disease at the site.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.49-53
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• 2010

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the plantar pressure distribution between the affected and unaffected side in adult hemiplegia during gait with the use of a quad-cane. Methods: Thirty-four stroke patients from 34 to 83 years of age were enrolled in this study, and in random order, all patients were asked to walk at their most comfortable speed three times along a walkway with the use of quad-cane over a period of three days. Plantar pressure distribution was measured with regard to foot contact pattern and center of pressure (CoP) trajectories during the stance phase, progressing from heel-strike to toe-off. The F-scan system was used to compare the foot pressure of the affected and unaffected sides. Results: A significant reduction in the total contact area, the width of fore foot (FF) and hind foot (HF), and anterior/posterior (AP) CoP trajectory of the affected side was found. However, contact pressure of the hind foot on the affected side during walking increased when compared to that on the unaffected side. Conclusion: We demonstrated that plantar pressure distribution on the affected side of adult hemiplegia patients was generally poorer than that on the unaffected side when these patients walked with cane assistance. However, the use of a quad-cane was shown to increase contact pressure of the hind foot on the affected side because weight can be borne on the affected side during heel-strike with use of the cane.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.944-950
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• 2015

Recent studies on ankle-foot prostheses used for transtibial amputees have focused on the adaptation of the ankle angle of the prosthesis according to ground conditions. For adaptation to various ground conditions (e.g., incline, decline, and step conditions), ankle-foot prostheses should first recognize the ground conditions as well as the current human motion pattern. For this purpose, the ground reaction forces and orientation angle of the tibia provide fundamental information. The measurement of the orientation angle, however, creates a challenge in practice. Although various sensors, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, can be utilized to measure the orientation angles of the prosthesis, none of these sensors can be solely used due to their intrinsic drawbacks. In this paper, a time-varying complementary filtering (TVCF) method is proposed to incorporate the measurements from an accelerometer and a gyroscope to obtain a precise orientation angle. The cut-off frequency of TVCF is adaptively determined according to the human gait phase detected by a fuzzy logic algorithm. The performance of the proposed method is verified through experiments.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.209-216
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• 2007

In this paper, we embodied posture-stabilization and dynamic gait in a walking robot. 10 RC servo motors are used to operate joints. And the joints have enough moving ranges suitable in any walking pattern. Each joint trajectory is generated by cubic spline interpolation method and the stability of the trajectory is verified by using Zero Moment Point from the robot modeling. To avoid complex structure and expression, Zero Moment Point of the biped robot used angular acceleration is suggested. To measure the stability of the biped robot, Tilt sensor and gyro sensor are used. Finally, Personal Computer is used computer monitoring and data processing. Most of computation, such as 10 RC servo motor control, joint trajectory generating, ZMP compensation, sense measuring, etc, was used Digital Signal Processor.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.32-43
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• 1996

The purpose of this case study was to introduce functional electrical stimulation(FES) for paraplegic patients. FES provides the ability to rise from sitting to standing, maintenance of a standing position, and the ability to walk with a reciprocal gait. Six channels of electrical stimulation are sufficient for synthesis of a simple reciprocal gait pattern in these patients. During the double-stance phase, knee extensor muscles of both knees are stimulated, providing sufficient support for the body. Only one knee extensor muscle group is excited during the single-stance phase. The swing phase of the contralateral lower extremity is accomplished by eliciting the synergic flexor muscle response through electrical stimulation of afferent nerves. The transition from the double-stance phase to the swing phase is controlled by two hand switches used by the therapist or built into the handles of the walking frame for using by the patient. A twenty-five years old male was with a T9/T9 spinal cord injury due to a traffic accident and admitted to Yonsei Rehabilitation Hospital for comprehensive treatment. After 30 days of training using the Parastep(R) he was able to stand for 10 minutes. After 43 days, he was able to walk and at discharged he could walk for 100 meters.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.337-349
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• 1996

A study was conducted to find the possible relationship between slip distance and dynamic coefficient of friction (DCOF) through the biomechanical study of slips and falls using a broader variety of floors and levels of slipperiness than those used before. Four different floor surfaces covering the full range of floor slipperiness (with and without on oil contaminant) were prepared for ten subjects with each walking at a fixed velocity. The results showed that slip distance and heel velocity had a decreasing trend while stride length had a increasing trend as DCOF increased. The contaminant effect overpowered floor slipperiness effect because a higher DCOF surface with oil contaminant created longer slip distance than the lower DCOF with dry floor. Normal gait pattern and suggested heel velocity (10 to 20 cm/sec) were seen on dry floors but abnormally longer stride length and 5 to 10 times faster heel velocity were found an oily floors. In other words, faster heel velocity (greater than 10 to 20 cm/sec) is recommended to measure DCOF on oily floors because the assumption of normal gait was no longer valid.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1999.07g
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• pp.3092-3094
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• 1999

This paper deals with the gait generation of Biped Walking Robot (IWR-III) to have a continuous walking pattern like human. For this, trajectory planning with the consideration of kick action is done in each walking step, and the coordinate transformation is done for simplifying the kinematics. The trunk moves continuously for all walking time and moves toward Z-axis. Balancing motion is acquired by FDM(Finite Difference Method) during the walking. By combining 4-types of pre-defined steps, multi-step walking is done. Using numerical simulator, dynamic analysis and system stability is confirmed. Walking motion is visualized by 3D-Graphic simulator. As a result, the motion of balancing joints can be reduced by the trunk ahead effect during kick action, and impactless smooth walking is implemented by the experiment.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.141-145
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare walking conditions (straight line and curved path) on walking patterns in persons who had experienced hemiplegic stroke and to determine whether if they adapt their walking pattern and performances according to changes in environmental conditions. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty-four hemiplegic stroke survivors participated in this study. This study measured walking performance in three different walking conditions, such as straight walking, the more-affected leg in the inner curve walking, and less-affected leg in the inner curve walking conditions, and a 2-dimentional gait analysis system was used as a primary measurement. This study also measured secondary clinical factors including the Timed Up-and-Go Test, the Trunk Impairment Scale, and the Dynamic Gait Index. Results: After analyzing, cadence and step length of the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were significantly different among the three different walking conditions in this study (p<0.05), but other temporospatial parameters were not significant. Cadence was the largest in the straight walking condition. Step length in the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were also the longest in the straight walking condition. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that hemiplegic stroke survivors show walking adaptability according to changes in walking demands and conditions, and moreover, cadence and step and stride lengths were significantly different between straight and curved walking conditions.