• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.71-79
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• 2003

Manual tracking is an experimental paradigm that can be used to study information processing in continuous movements involving accurate, ongoing control of motor performance. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of knee tracking training, using the paretic side, on gait in stroke patients. Nine patients with hemiplegia participated in the study. The timed 10 m gait speed test and tracking test were administrated. The tracking test was composed with ranges of $-20^{\circ}$ to $20^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}$ to $60^{\circ}$. The tracking training consisted of five times every week for 4 weeks. The data were analyzed by non-parametric paired sign test of Wilcoxon. The flexion/extension error of the tracking test was significantly reduced on the paretic side, while the nonparetic side was not statistically significant. The transfer of the skill to the functional activity was shown in the significant improvement at timed 10 m gait speed test. This study shows that individuals with chronic who have impaired knee movement can be trained to improve their knee control through intensive practice at a knee movement tracking task and that the skill learned from such training is transfered to a more functional gait speed.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.93-102
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• 2016

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the functional effects of action observation plus functional electrical stimulation (FES) treatment on the weight distribution indexes (heel and toe; right and left), stability indexes, gait velocities, and stride lengths of stroke patients. METHODS: The subjects, who were all more than six months post stroke, were randomly divided into two groups of ten each: an experimental group and a control group. TETRAX (Tetrax Interactive Balance System) and GAITRite (GAITRite$^{TM}$ computerized gait analysis system) were measured at baseline, six weeks after treatment. Participants in both the groups received functional electrical stimulation treatment, but the experimental group was provided with additional action observation. Independent t-tests were used to compare the differences between the groups, and repeated measured two-way ANOVA was used to compare the interaction between the groups. RESULTS: The result of the interactions between the groups and the periods showed significant increases in the weight distribution indexes (heel and toe; right and left), stability indexes, gait velocities and stride lengths (p<0.05). However, a comparison between the groups showed no significance in the weight distribution indexes (heel and toe), stability indexes, and stride lengths (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Action observation plus functional electrical stimulation treatment should be considered as a therapeutic method for physical therapy for stroke patients to improve the weight distribution indexes, stability indexes, gait velocities, and stride lengths.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.59-64
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• 2017

Objective: Elderly people with dementia experience not only cognitive dysfunction but also motor function deficits, such as balance and gait impairments. Recently, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used to reduce pain as well as to control muscle spasm, spasticity and motor performance in various types of subjects. The purpose of this study determined the effect of a single trial TENS on balance and gait function in elderly people with dementia. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty-two subjects with dementia were assigned to the TENS group (n=12) and ten subjects were assigned to the control group (n=10) randomly. Subjects were classified into two groups: the TENS group (n=12) and the placebo-TENS group (n=10). The TENS group had electrical stimulation applied on the calf muscle for 15 minutes, while the placebo-TENS group had not received real electrical stimulation. The timed up and go test (TUG) and functional reach test (FRT) were used to measure the balance function, and the 10 meters walk test (MWT) and 6MWT were used to assess gait ability. All tests were performed before and after intervention under a single-blinded condition. Results: After intervention, there were significant improvements in TUG, FRT, 10MWT, and 6MWT results in the TENS group (p<0.05), while the placebo-TENS group did not show significant changes in all outcome measurements. There were also differences in all tests between the two groups at post-measurements (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that a single trial TENS application on the calf may be used to improve balance and gait function in elderly people with dementia.

• PNF and Movement
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.31-36
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• 2009

Many daily activities require people to complete a motor task while walking. Substantial gait decrements during simultaneous attention to a variety of cognitive tasks have been shown by a group of severely injured neurological patients of mixed etiology. And previous studies have shown that the attentional load of a walking-associated task increased with its level of difficulty. The purpose of this study was to analyze subjects' gait changes are affected by the effects of arithmetic task difficulty and performance level. Participants performed a walking task alone, three different Arithmetic tasks while seated, and among them, two kinds of the simillar Arithmetic tasks in combination with walking. Reaction time and accuracy were recorded for two of the Arithmetic tasks. The mean values of the gait were measured using a Timed Up and Go test among 11 with post-stroke patients while walking with and without forward counting (WFC) and backward counting(WBC).There was significant Arithmetic Task Difficulty level between the 10-forward counting task condition(FC) and the 10-backward counting task condition(BC)(p=0.008). The mean values of T.U.G time were significantly higher under backward counting dual-task condition than during a simple walking task(p=0.009) and WFC(p=0.009). The change in T.U.G time during WFC was higher when compared with the change during a simple walking, but there was no significant difference (p=0.246). This study suggesting that a high interference could be linked with a high level of difficulty, whereas adaptive task enabled participants to perfectly share their attention between two concurrent tasks. Future research should determine whether dual task training can reduce gait decrements in dual task situations in people after stroke. And the dual-task-based exercise program is feasible and beneficial for improving walking ability in subjects with stroke.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제63권2호
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• pp.440-452
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to determine if an 8-week therapeutic riding (TR) program was effective in improving the walking ability of students with intellectual disabilities. Thirteen students diagnosed with intellectual disabilities participated in the TR program. TR sessions were conducted twice a week (30 min per session), with a total of 16 rides taking place over an 8-week period. A gait measurement analyzer was used to measure progress based on a turn test (6-m walking and turning test), walk test (10-m walking), and timed up and go (TUG) test. Measurements were made three times: before horse-riding (P0), after 4 weeks (8 rides) of horse-riding (P1), and after 8 weeks (16 rides) of horse-riding (P2). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software (ver. 22.0). Descriptive statistics were generated on the general characteristics of the subjects, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to verify the normality of the data. Because of the lack of normality, the data were analyzed using a nonparametric method and the significance level was set to 0.05. Measurements of the duration of the forward gait cycle (s) in the turn test and the forward gait speed (m/s) in the walk test indicated improved walking ability after the TR program (p < 0.001); the stride length (% height) also increased significantly (p < 0.05). The walk test revealed a significant effect of the program on the duration of the forward gait cycle (p < 0.05), while there were significant improvements on the left and right of the elaborated strides (p < 0.001). No significant improvement in TUG test performance was observed after the TR program. In this study, an 8-week TR program had positive results on gait. Therefore, further research is merited, where TR programs are likely to improve the walking ability of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

• 로봇학회논문지
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.279-285
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• 2010

This paper presents the use of 3 axis accelerometer for getting the gait information including the number of gaits, stride and walking distance. Travel distance is usually calculated from the double integration of the accelerometer output with respect to time; however, the accumulated errors due to the drift are inevitable. The orientation change of the accelerometer also causes error because the gravity is added to the measured acceleration. Unless three axis orientations are completely identified, the accelerometer alone does not provide correct acceleration for estimating the travel distance. We proposed a way of minimizing the error due to the change of the orientation. Pedestrian localization is implemented with the heading angle and the travel distance. Heading angle is estimated from the rate gyro and the magnetic compass measurements. The performance of the localization is presented with experimental data.

• 제어로봇시스템학회논문지
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.518-523
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• 2015

This paper proposes a gait phase classifier using a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN). Walking is a type of dynamic system, and as such it seems that the classifier made by using a general feed forward neural network structure is not appropriate. It is known that an RNN is suitable to model a dynamic system. Because the proposed RNN is simple, we use a back propagation algorithm to train the weights of the network. The input data of the RNN is the lower body's joint angles and angular velocities which are acquired by using the lower limb exoskeleton robot, ROBIN-H1. The classifier categorizes a gait cycle as two phases, swing and stance. In the experiment for performance verification, we compared the proposed method and general feed forward neural network based method and showed that the proposed method is superior.

• 한국전문물리치료학회지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.43-52
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• 2010

The Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) was developed and widely used as a clinical tool to assess balance performance during gait. The purpose of this study was to validate the Korean translated DGI using Rasch analysis. A total of 105 community-dwelling elderly was participated in this study (age range = 65~95 years; mean = 78.0 years). The translated DGI showed sound item psychometric properties, and the 8 items were arranged in order of difficulty for the total participants. The most difficult item was 'Steps' and the easiest item was 'Level surface'. Also, each of the original 4 rating scale categories satisfied the Linacre's essential criteria suggestions for optimal rating scale category effectiveness. Although, thirty eight person (36.2%) showed the maximal high score, but the most of them was no history of fall in the preceding year. For subjects who has falling history, all of the person's ability was arranged within the item's difficulty. The 8-item Korean translated DGI can be used to measure gain in elderly person with balance disorders without compromising important clinical measurement characteristics in Korea.

• 대한전기학회논문지:시스템및제어부문D
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• 제55권10호
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• pp.452-457
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• 2006

In this paper, an algorithm to detect steps in hemiplegic patients using a 3-axis accelerometer a紅ached on the trunk was proposed. The proposed algorithm consisted of the signal pre-processing, the step detector, the classification of steps and the calculation of stride time. Two FIR band-pass filters were designed and steps were measured by the combination of filtered signals in the vertical and the anteroposterior directions. In addition, the classification of steps and the calculation of stride time were computed by using the detected steps and lateral signals. For the experiment, fourteen hemiplegic patients were participated and the linear accelerations of the trunk and foot switch signals were measured synchronously. To evaluate the system performance, the detected steps and initial contacts by the foot switch were compared. The average error between the steps and initial contacts was 0.024ms and the difference of the average stride time was 0.01s. Finally, all gait events were detected exactly. Results showed that the accelerometry could use for the gait evaluation in clinical rehabilitation therapies.

• 한국지능시스템학회논문지
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.555-561
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• 2008

GA 기반의 4족 보행로봇의 걸음새의 속도와 안정성을 최적화하는 걸음새의 자동 생성 방법을 구현한다. 기존에 사용된 걸음새 파라미터 집합에서 중요 파라미터의 영향을 분석하였고, 이를 통해 효율적인 탐색 방향을 설정하였다. 또한 속도 위주의 기존 연구와는 달리 반 정확도가 수반된 결과를 얻도록 하였다. 제안된 기법의 검증을 위하여 SONY Aibo 4족 보행 로봇에 대해서 ODE 기반의 물리적 특성을 포함한 정교한 시뮬레이션이 가능한 Webots 을 이용하여 실험을 수행하였고, 속도와 안정성 면에서 향상된 결과를 얻었다.