• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.761-768
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• 2016

Weight bearing is effective during rehabilitation of gait, in the elderly and disabled people. Various training devices using weight bearing function were developed along with treadmill walking; however, no device has been developed in conjunction to walking on the ground. Here, we designed a rail type frame of a gait rehabilitation system for body-weight support (BWS) function, and analyzed its mechanical safety in the static weight bearing condition of a vertical axis. Computational simulations were performed to analyze structure of the driving parts, which are connected with a rail and driving rollers and the lower plate of the BWS. Structural analyses showed the drivers and BWS were safe, when simulated at 135kg weight under static conditions. Thus, this rail type rehabilitation system can be used for gait training of the elderly and disabled.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.725-730
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• 2004

This paper has regarded mechanism design of cane-like passive type walking aid for the elderly using 3-RPS parallel manipulator. First, gait patterns of the elderly have been experimented. By means of motion capturing and image processing, we decided loaded forces and places of the cane when the elderly walked with a cane. Using these results we have developed a passive type walking aid. Second, the walking pattern has been simulated using dynamic analysis program, ADAMS and we find out the similarity between the real walking and the simulated walking. Finally after assuring the similarity, with adjusting the new mechanism design to the simulated walking we will decide whether the walking aid is safe and stable when the elderly walks with this cane-like walking aid. This paper will be basis for the development of the mechanism design applying 3-RPS parallel manipulator.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1029-1037
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• 2013

This paper introduces a novel and fast synthesizing method for 3D motions of quadrupedal animals that uses only a small set of motion capture data. Unlike human motions, animal motions are relatively difficult to capture. Also, it is a challenge to synthesize continuously changing animal motions in real time because animals have various gait types according to their speed. The algorithm proposed herein, however, is able to synthesize continuously varying motions with proper limb configuration by using only one single cyclic animal motion per gait type based on the biologically driven Froude number. During the synthesis process, each gait type is automatically determined by its speed parameter, and the transition motions, which have not been entered as input, are synthesized accordingly by the optimized asynchronous motion blending technique. At the start time, given the user's control input, the motion path and spinal joints for turning are adjusted first and then the motion is stitched at any speed with proper transition motions to synthesize a long stream of motions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2017

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of action observation with observation type on the limits of stability and dynamic gait ability in stroke patients. METHODS: The 20 stroke patients who participated in this study were randomly divided into two experimental groups who underwent training three times a week for 4 weeks. Their balance was tested as the limit of stability with Biorescue. Their Dynamic gait ability was tested with the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) before the intervention, and after 4 weeks. Independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze the results. RESULTS: The results confirmed the limit of stability on the moving areas of the paralyzed and non-paralyzed sides. The limit of stability and dynamic gait index measurements confirmed that the moving area showed a significant difference after the intervention in the whole movement observation group (p<.05), but the partial movement observation group showed no significant difference (p>.05). A significant difference was also noted for the comparison between the both groups after the interventions (p<.05). The functional walking ability showed a significant difference when compared to the ability before the intervention, as determined by the changes in scores obtained for the dynamic gait index (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Interventions utilizing whole movement confirm that training improves stability and functional walking ability in stroke patients with disabilities in balance and walking ability.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.92-110
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• 2023

Background: Digital therapeutics are software medical devices that provide evidence-based treatments to prevent, manage, and treat disease. Digital therapies have recently been shown to be effective in motivating children with cerebral palsy as a tool in neuropsychological therapy. Digital therapies improve postural control, balance and gait in children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of digital therapies on balance and gait in children with cerebral palsy and to provide guidelines for prescribing digital therapies for children with cerebral palsy. Design: A Systematic Review Methods: This study searched for English-language articles published in medical journals from January 2000 to July 2023 using PubMed and MEDLINE based on the year of initiation of the digital therapy. The search terms used in the study were 'digital technology' OR 'digital therapeutic' OR 'mobile application' OR 'mobile health' OR 'virtual reality' OR 'game' AND 'cerebral palsy', 'balance' 'gait' as the main keywords. The final article was assigned an evidence level and a Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) score to assess the quality of clinical trials studies. Results: The digital therapies applied to improve balance and gait in children with cerebral palsy are game-based virtual reality training and the Nintendo Wii Fit program. Both digital therapy interventions had a significant effect on improving balance in children with cerebral palsy, and virtual reality training significantly improved balance and gait. However, there were no significant improvements in balance and gait within two weeks of treatment, regardless of the type of digital intervention. Conclusion: The study suggests that this data will be important in building the evidence base for the effectiveness of digital therapies on balance and gait in children with cerebral palsy and in advancing clinical protocols.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.27-35
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• 2017

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effect of shoes sole form on fatigue of lower extremity during treadmill gait. Method: Thirty healthy young adults (15 males and 15 females) were recruited. They performed treadmill gait in two different conditions: double sole(DS) and flat sole(FS). Result: lower extremity fatigue were signficantly decreased in double sole condition(p<.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that double sole contributes to reduction of lower extremity muscle fatigue.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.291-298
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• 2021

Purpose: The Pedisole is a newly developed shoe-mounted wearable assessment system for analyzing balance and gait. This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the parameters provided by the system for static balance and gait analysis of healthy adults. Methods: This study included 38 healthy adults (22.4±1.9 years) with no history of injury in the lower limbs. All participants were asked to perform balance and gait tasks for undertaking measurements. For analysis of balance, both the smart Pedisole and Pedoscan systems were concurrently used to analyze the path length of the center of pressure (COP) and the weight ratio of the left and right for 10 s. Gait was measured using the smart Pedisole and GaitRite walkway systems simultaneously. The participants walked at a self-selected preferred gait speed. The cadence, stance time, swing time, and step time were used to analyze gait characteristics. Using the paired t-test, the intra-class coefficient correlation (ICC) was calculated for reliability. The Spearman correlation was used to assess the validity of the measurements. In total, data for balance from 36 participants and the gait profiles of 37 participants were evaluated. Results: There were significant differences between the COP path lengths (p<.050) derived from the two systems, and a significant correlation was found for COP path length (r=.382~.523) for static balance. The ICC for COP path length and weight ratio was found to be greater than .687, indicating moderate agreement in balance parameters. The ICC of gait parameters was found to be greater than .697 except for stance time, and there was significant correlation (r=.678~.922) with the GaitRite system. Conclusion: The newly developed smart insole-type Pedisole system and the related application are useful, reliable, and valid tools for balance and gait analysis compared to the gold standard Pedoscan and the GaitRite systems in healthy individuals.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.390-405
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• 2021

Gait analysis trackers have been developed to monitor daily gait patterns to improve users' running performance and reduce the risk of injuries. A variety of gait analysis trackers are available on the market(e.g., foot pods, insoles). Depending on the type of gait analysis tracker, users' discomfort or satisfaction as well as required properties may differ. Hence, the purpose of this study was to compare and analyze user experience of three different types of commercial shoe-mounted gait analysis trackers and their mobile applications in a laboratory environment using questionnaires based on actual experiences of each product. Ten males and ten females who regularly enjoy walking and running exercises participated in the experiment. After the participants set up the tracker and application themselves without support from researchers, ten to thirty minutes' exercise was permitted on each product. Following this, the participants answered questionnaires containing evaluation variables on the device and mobile application, as well as satisfaction, intention to use, recommendation, and purchase. In addition, they were asked questions about the attractive features and shortcomings of each device and application. The results showed that the PRO-SPECS^® smart insole was preferred over the others for ease of use, perceived durability, psychological burden of the design, and usefulness of the information provided by the application. Along with the results of questionnaire, this study also discussed strategies and recommendations for future product design and development.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.107-112
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of aquatic ramp walking exercise on the activity of the quadriceps, gait and activity of daily living in child with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) type II. A 5 years-old girl with SMA type II participated in this study. This study used single-subject reverse(A-B-A) design study. There are 12 sessions(4weeks 3 times a week) each during the baseline phase(A), the intervention phase(B), the follow up phase(A). During the baseline phase and the follow up phase performed general aquatic therapy, the intervention phase additional performed walking activity on ramp in pool (60m). Surface electromyogram, Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, ACTIVLIM were used as outcome. During the intervention phase, there were decrease on the activity of the quadriceps. In modified TUG test, gait time reduced during the intervention phase. The ACTIVLIM logit score increased during intervention phase by comparison with the baseline phase. These findings suggest that an aquatic ramp walking exercise activities have the therapeutic possibility on the quadriceps activity and gait ability for child with SMA type II.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1065-1072
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• 2015

This paper is about the development of an insole sensor system that can determine the model of an exoskeleton robot for lower limb that is a multi-degree of freedom system. First, the study analyzed the kinematic model of an exoskeleton robot for the lower limb that changes according to the gait phase detection of a human. Based on the ground reaction force (GRF), which is generated when walking, to proceed with insole sensor development, the sensing type, location, and the number of sensors were selected. The center of pressure (COP) of the human foot was understood first, prior to the development of algorithm. Using the COP, an algorithm was developed that is capable of detecting the gait phase with small number of sensors. An experiment at 3 km/h speed was conducted on the developed sensor system to evaluate the developed insole sensor system and the gait phase detection algorithm.