• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.12
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• pp.117-123
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to convergence comparison the ankle joint angle change during walking of college students in their 20s with flat foot according to the heel height of insole shoes. Qualisys Track Manager Software ver. 2.8 (Qalisys Track Manager) was used for 15 college students. Functional shoes with insoles were manufactured, and the heel heights of the shoes were set to 3cm and 7cm. The subjects wore shoes with two high heels and gaited by attaching a reflex marker to the side of the ankle joint. The angle change of the ankle joint was measured in the gait stance phase. The angle of the ankle joint significantly decreased both heel strike, foot flat, midstance, and toe off to the heel height increased when the subjects with flat feet wore insole shoes. Therefore, it is thought that flat feet should wear low shoes when wearing insoles to reduce the fatigue of the soles and to walk comfortably.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.21-27
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study examined the changes in the kinematic variables during walking on a downhill ramp according to the shoe heel height. METHODS: The subjects were 10 adult women with no history of musculoskeletal disorders who agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected using a motion analysis system (VICON) consisting of six infrared cameras. The slope was 120 cm in width, 200 cm in length, and 15 in inclination. To confirm the change in gait parameters (stride length, gait speed) and lower extremity joint angle according to the heel heights of the shoes, flat, 5 cm, and 10 cm heel shoes were prepared and walked alternately. RESULTS: As a result, both the stride length and walking speed showed significant differences according to the heel height between flat and 10 cm (p<.05). In the sagittal plane, there was no significant difference in the hip joint and knee joint, but a significant difference was observed in all events in the ankle joint on all heel heights (p<.05). In particular, the heel strike and mid stance events showed significant differences among all height conditions (p<.05). No significant difference was observed in any of the joint angle changes in the frontal plane (p>.05). CONCLUSION: As the shoe heel height increased, the instability increased and efforts to secure the stability were made, leading to a shortened stride length, walking speed, and angle of the ankle joint.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.379-386
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• 2009

During running, the human body experiences repeated impact force between the foot and the ground. The impact force is highly associated with injury of the lower extremity, comfort and running performance. Therefore, shoemakers have developed shoes with various midsole properties to prevent the injury of lower extremity, improve the comfort and enhance the running performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of midsole hardness on vertical ground force and heel strike angle during men's and women's running. Five male and five female expert runners consented to participate in the study and ran at a constant speed with three different pairs of shoes with soft, medium and hard midsole respectively. In conclusion, regardless of gender, there was ill significant difference among three shoes in maximum vertical ground reaction force, impact force peak and stance time. However, the loading time decreased and the loading rate increased as the midsole became harder. Female subjects showed more sensitive reaction with respect to the midsole hardness, while male subjects showed subtle difference. The authors expect to apply this results for providing a guideline for utilizing proper midsole hardness of gender-specific shoe.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.159-164
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• 2018

Objective: The aims of this study were to determine the impact peak force and kinematic variables in running speed and investigate the relationship between them. Method: Thirty-nine male heel strike runners ($mean\;age=21.7{\pm}1.6y$, $mean\;mass=72.5{\pm}8.7kg$, $mean\;height=176.6{\pm}6.1cm$) were recruited in this investigation. The impact peak forces during treadmill running were assessed, and the kinematic variables were computed using three-dimensional data collected using eight infrared cameras (Oqus 300, Qualisys, Sweden). One-way analysis of variance ANOVAwas used to investigate the influence of the running speed on the parameters, and Pearson's partial correlation was used to investigate the relationship between the impact peak force and kinematic variables. Results: The running speed affected the impact peak force, stride length, stride frequency, and kinematic variables during the stride phase and the foot angle at heel contact; however, it did not affect the ankle and knee joint angles in the sagittal plane at heel contact. No significant correlation was noted between the impact peak force and kinematic variables in constantrunning speed. Conclusion: Increasing ankle and knee joint angles at heel contact may not be related to the mechanism behind reducing the impact peak force during treadmill running at constant speed.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.41-50
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• 2020

The consequences of wearing high heels can be different according to the heel height, gait speed, shoe design, heel base area, and shoe size. This study aimed to focus on the knee extension and flexion range of motion (ROM) during gait, which were challenged by wearing five different shoe heel types and two different self-selected gait speeds (comfortable and fast) as experimental conditions. Measurement standards of knee extension and flexion ROM were individually calibrated at the time of heel strike, mid-stance, toe-off, and stance phase based on the 2-minute video recordings of each gait condition. Seven healthy young women (20.7 ± 0.8 years) participated and they were asked to walk on a treadmill wearing the five given shoes at a self-selected comfortable speed (average of 2.4 ± 0.3 km/h) and a fast speed (average of 5.1 ± 0.2 km/h) in a random order. All of the shoes were in size 23.5 cm. Three of the given shoes were 9.0 cm in height, the other two were flat shoes and sneakers. A motion capture software (Kinovea 0.8.27) was used to measure the kinematic data; changes in the knee angles during each gait. During fast speed gait, the knee extension angles at heel strike and mid-stance were significantly decreased in all of the 3 high heels (p<0.05). The results revealed that fast gait speed causes knee flexion angle to significantly increase at toe-off in all five types of shoes. However, there was a significant difference in both the knee flexion and extension angles when the gait in stiletto heels and flat shoes were compared in fast gait condition (p<0.05). This showed that walking fast in high heels leads to abnormal knee ROM and thus can cause damages to the knee joints. The findings in this preliminary study can be a basis for future studies on the kinematic changes in the lower extremity during gait and for the analysis of causes and preventive methods for musculoskeletal injuries related to wearing high heels.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.297-302
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted in order to investigate the kinematic gait parameter of lower extremities with different gait conditions (level walking, stair, ramp) in hemiplegic patients. Methods: Ten hemiplegic patients participated in this study and kinematic data were measured using a 3D motion analysis system (LUKOtronic AS202, Lutz-kovacs-Electronics, Innsbruk, Austria). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way repeated measure of ANOVA in order to determine the difference of lower extremity angle at each gait phase with different gait conditions. Results: Affected degree of ankle joint in the heel strike phase showed significant difference between level walking and climbing stairs, and toe off phase showed significant difference between level walking and climbing stairs, ramps, and climbing stairs. Affected degree of knee joint showed no significant difference in all attempts. Affected degree of hip joint in the toe off phase showed significant difference between level walking, ramps and stairs, and climbing ramps. Swing phase showed significant difference between sides for level walking and stairs, climbing ramps. Affected ankle joint of heel strike and toe off, and affected hip joint of toe off and the maximum angle of swing phase in the angle was increased. Unaffected side of the ankle joint, knee joint, and hip joint showed a significant increase in walking phase. Conclusion: These findings indicate that compared with level walking, different results were obtained for joint angle of lower extremity when climbing stairs and ramps. In hemiplegia patient's climbing ramps, stairs, more movement was observed not only for the non-affected side but also the ankle joint of the affected side and hip joint. According to these findings of hemiplegic patients when climbing stairs or ramps, more joint motion was observed not only on the unaffected side but also on the affected side compared with flat walking.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.990-992
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• 2007

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical gait-event detection system which is necessary for the FES (functional electrical stimulation) control of locomotion in paralyzed patients. The system is comprised of a sensor board and an event recognition algorithm. We focused on the practicality improvement of the system through 1) using accelerometer to get the angle of shank and dispensing with the foot-switches having limitation in indoor or barefoot usage and 2) using a rule-base instead of threshold to determine the heel-off/heel-strike events corresponding the stimulation on/off timing. The sensor signals are transmitted through RF communication and gait-events was detected using the peaks in shank angle. The system could detect two critical gait-events in all five paralyzed patients. The standard deviation of the gait events time from the peaks were smaller when 1.5Hz cutoff frequency was used in the derivation of the shank angle from the acceleration signals.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.149-163
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to compare the lower extremity's joint and segment coupling patterns between forward and backward running in subjects who were twelve healthy males. Three-dimensional kinematic data were collected with Qualisys system while subjects ran to forward and backward. The thigh internal/external rotation and tibia internal/external rotation, thigh flexion/extension and tibia flexion/extension, tibia internal/external rotation and foot inversion/eversion, knee internal/external rotation and ankle inversion/eversion, knee flexion/extension and ankle inversion/eversion, knee flexion/extension and ankle flexion/extension, and knee flexion/extension and tibia internal/external rotation coupling patterns were determined using a vector coding technique. The comparison for each coupling between forward and backward running were conducted using a dependent, two-tailed t-test at a significant level of .05 for the mean of each of five stride regions, midstance(1l-30%), toe-off(31-50%), swing acceleration(51-70%), swing deceleration(71-90), and heel-strike(91-10%), respectively. 1. The knee flexion/extension and ankle flexion/extension coupling pattern of both foreward and backward running over the stride was converged on a complete coordination. However, the ankle flexion/extension to knee flexion/extension was relatively greater at heel-strike in backward running compared with forward running. At the swing deceleration, backward running was dominantly led by the ankle flexion/extension, but forward running done by the knee flexion/extension. 2. The knee flexion/extension and ankle inversion/eversion coupling pattern for both running was also converged on a complete coordination. At the mid-stance. the ankle movement in the frontal plane was large during forward running, but the knee movement in the sagital plane was large during backward running and vice versa at the swing deceleration. 3. The knee flexion/extension and tibia internal/external rotation coupling while forward and backward run was also centered on the angle of 45 degrees, which indicate a complete coordination. However, tibia internal/external rotation dominated the knee flexion/extension at heel strike phase in forward running and vice versa in backward running. It was diametrically opposed to the swing deceleration for each running. 4. Both running was governed by the ankle movement in the frontal plane across the stride cycle within the knee internal/external rotation and tibia internal/external rotation. The knee internal/external rotation of backward running was greater than that of forward running at the swing deceleration. 5. The tibia internal/external rotation in coupling between the tibia internal/external rotation and foot inversion/eversion was relatively great compared with the foot inversion/eversion over a stride for both running. At heel strike, the tibia internal/external rotation of backward running was shown greater than that of forward(p<.05). 6. The thigh internal/external rotation took the lead for both running in the thigh internal/external rotation and tibia internal/external rotation coupling. In comparison of phase, the thigh internal/external rotation movement at the swing acceleration phase in backward running worked greater in comparison with forward running(p<.05). However, it was greater at the swing deceleration in forward running(p<.05). 7. With the exception of the swing deceleration phase in forward running, the tibia flexion/extension surpassed the thigh flexion/extension across the stride cycle in both running. Analysis of the specific stride phases revealed the forward running had greater tibia flexion/extension movement at the heel strike than backward running(p<.05). In addition, the thigh flexion/extension and tibia flexion/extension coupling displayed almost coordination at the heel strike phase in backward running. On the other hand the thigh flexion/extension of forward running at the swing deceleration phase was greater than the tibia flexion/extension, but it was opposite from backward running. In summary, coupling which were the knee flexion/extension and ankle flexion/extension, the knee flexion/extension and ankle inversion/eversion, the knee internal/external rotation and ankle inversion/eversion, the tibia internal/external rotation and foot inversion/eversion, the thigh internal/external rotation and tibia internal/external rotation, and the thigh flexion/extension and tibia flexion/extension patterns were most similar across the strike cycle in both running, but it showed that coupling patterns in the specific stride phases were different from average point of view between two running types.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2005

Excessive pronation and impact force during running are related to various running injuries. To prevent these injuries, three type of running shoes are used, such as cushioning, stability, and motion control. Although there were may studies about the effect of midsole hardness on impact force, no study to investigate biomechanical effect of motion control running shoes. The purpose of this study was to determine biomechanical difference between cushioning and motion control shoes during treadmill running. Specifically, plantar and rearfoot motion, impact force and loading rate, and insole pressure distribution were quantified and compared. Twenty male healthy runners experienced at treadmill running participated in this study. When they ran on treadmill at 3.83 m/s. Kinematic data were collected using a Motion Analysis eight video camera system at 240 Hz. Impact force and pressure distribution data under the heel of right foot were collected with a Pedar pressure insole system with 26 sensors at 360 Hz. Mean value of ten consecutive steps was calculated for kinematics and kinetics. A dependent paired t-test was used to compare the running shoes effect (p=0.05). For most kinematics, motion control running shoes reduced the range of rearfoot motion compared to cushioning shoes. Runners wearing motion control shoe showed less eversion angle during standing less inversion angle at heel strike, and slower eversion velocity. For kinetics, cushioning shoes has the effect to reduce impact on foot obviously. Runners wearing cushioning shoes showed less impact force and loading rate, and less peak insole pressure. For both shoes, there was greater load on the medial part of heel compared to lateral part. For pressure distribution, runners with cushioning shoes showed lower, especially on the medial heel.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.319-341
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• 2016

Objective:This research analyzed the lower-limb motion in kinetic and kinematic way while walking on various terrains to develop Foot-Ground Contact Detection (FGCD) algorithm using the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). Background: To estimate the location of human in GPS-denied environments, it is well known that the lower-limb kinematics based on IMU sensors, and pressure insoles are very useful. IMU is mainly used to solve the lower-limb kinematics, and pressure insole are mainly used to detect the foot-ground contacts in stance phase. However, the use of multiple sensors are not desirable in most cases. Therefore, only IMU based FGCD can be an efficient method. Method: Orientation and acceleration of lower-limb of 10 participants were measured using IMU while walking on flat ground, ascending and descending slope and stairs. And the inertial information showing significant changes at the Heel strike (HS), Full contact (FC), Heel off (HO) and Toe off (TO) was analyzed. Results: The results confirm that pitch angle, rate of pitch angle of foot and shank, and acceleration in x, z directions of the foot are useful in detecting the four different contacts in five different walking terrain. Conclusion: IMU based FGCD Algorithm considering all walking terrain possible in daily life was successfully developed based on all IMU output signals showing significant changes at the four steps of stance phase. Application: The information of the contact between foot and ground can be used for solving lower-limb kinematics to estimating an individual's location and walking speed.