• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.367-375
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• 2023

Most partial hand amputees experience limited wrist movement, which hinders the efficient functioning of upper limb, affecting hand-to-use coordination and the usability of the prosthetic hand. This limitation can lead to secondary musculoskeletal issues due to repetitive compensatory movement patterns. However, current partial hand prosthetic lack rotational wrist movement due to challenges in accommodating various hand shapes and limited space. In our study, we proposed a prosthetic hand with a wrist rotation module for partial hand amputees, aiming to reduce compensatory movement. To validate the proposed wrist rotation module, we conducted motion analysis during reach-to-grasp task. Furthermore, during the Jebsen-Taylor hand function test, we evaluated both the effect on upper limb movement and the usability of the prosthetic hand, comparing configurations with and without the wrist rotation module. The results showed that the prosthetic hand equipped with rotational wrist movements reduces compensatory movements and promotes efficient upper limb movement patterns. This finding highlights the value of incorporating a wrist rotation module in prosthetic hands to improve upper limb movement for partial hand amputees.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed (1) to identify asymmetry observed in electromyography (EMG) activity patterns of lower limb muscles between affected and unaffected sides of stroke patients during sit to stand (STS) movement and (2) to identify the muscles of the paretic lower limb that affected STS performance in stroke patients. Methods: This study consisted of 27 patients (15 males and 12 females) with poststroke hemiparesis. The activation of the rectus femoris (RF), tibialis anterior (TA), and gastrocnemius (GCM) of the affected side and unaffected side during STS movement were recorded using surface EMG. In addition, EMG lower limb muscle activation patterns were measured in the all section, pre-thigh off (pre-TO), and post-thigh off (post-TO) section. All measurements were obtained during five repetitions of the STS (FTSTS) movement. An independent t-test was performed to compare the affected side and unaffected side of the lower limb during the STS movement. A stepwise linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the muscles that affected STS performance. Results: Activation of both the RF and TA significantly affected the lower limb during the STS movement (p<0.05). Two muscles showed a difference on the post-TO section. The results of the stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the RF and TA muscles of the affected lower limb were affected in FTSTS. Conclusion: These results provide a basis for reinforcement training, focusing on the RF and TA muscles of the affected side of stroke patients to improve asymmetric movement and performance in STS movement.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.30-37
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• 2008

Anticipatory postural adjustments are pre-planned by the central nervous system (CNS) before the activation of agonist muscles in the limbs, and minimize postural sway. Most previous studies on this topic have focused on upper-limb movement, and little research has been conducted on lower-limb movement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the recruitment order of left and right trunk muscles during limb movement. Fifteen healthy subjects (10 male, 5 female) were enrolled. Electro-myographic signals were recorded on the muscles of: (1) deltoid, lumbar erector spinae, latissimus dorsi and internal oblique during shoulder flexion, (2) rectus femoris, rectus abdominis, external oblique and internal oblique during hip flexion. During right upper limb flexion, the onset of left erector spinae muscle and left internal oblique muscle activity preceded the onset of right deltoid by 8.09 ms and 19.83 ms, respectively. But these differences were not significant (p>.05). A similar sequence of activation occurred with lower limb flexion. The onset of left internal oblique muscle activity preceded the onset of right rectus femoris muscle by 28.29 ms (p<.05). The onset of right internal oblique muscle activity preceded the onset of left rectus femoris muscles by 23.24 ms (p<.05). The internal oblique muscle was the first activated during limb movement. Our study established the recruitment order of trunk muscles during limb movement, and explained the postural control strategy of the trunk muscles in healthy people. We expect that this study will be used to evaluate patients with an asymmetric recruitment order of muscle activation due to impaired CNS.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 2023

Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD) is a sleep-related movement disorder characterized by involuntary, rhythmic limb movements during sleep. While PLMD itself is not considered life-threatening, its association with certain underlying health conditions raises concerns about mortality risks. PLMD has been found to be associated with cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The fragmented sleep caused by the repetitive limb movements and associated arousals may contribute to sympathetic activation, chronic sleep disruption, sleep deprivation, and subsequent cardiovascular problems, which can increase mortality risks. The comorbidities and health factors commonly associated with PLMD, such as obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, may also contribute to increased mortality risks. PLMD is often observed alongside other neurological disorders, including restless legs syndrome (RLS) and Parkinson's disease. The presence of PLMD in these conditions may exacerbate the underlying health issues and potentially contribute to higher mortality rates. Further research is needed to elucidate the specific mechanisms linking PLMD to mortality risks and to develop targeted interventions that address these risks.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2005

Purpose : To describes the important aspects of scapular movement and function used when applying PNF technique to the upper limb and scapular. Method : The scapular was a very important roles in the upper limb movement. This study summarizes the physiologic movement of scapular to the PNF upper extremity patterns or scapular patterns. Result : The shoulder joint has the most freedom of range of motion in the human body, composed of the glenohumeral joint, the subacromial joint, the acromioclavical joint, the sternoclavicular joint, the scapulothoracic joint, the costosternal joint, and the costovertebral joint. During upper limb movement, the scapular position change at the sternoclavicular joint and the acromioclavical joint. This concerted motion was characterized by scapulohumeral rhythm. In clinical situations, it is import to understand factors affect the scapulohumeral rhythm so that optimal evaluation and therapeutic intervention can be devised. Conclusions : The scapular movement depend on the proper and coordinated contraction of muscles. Physical therapists need to understand the normal scapular movement relationships of the scapulohumeral rhythm under different interventions for PNF techniques application.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.191-200
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• 1997

Objectives : Periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS) may cause arousals that may lead to non-restorative sleep. PLMS is characterized by long sleep latency, sleep fragmentation, frequent stage shifts, and rarity of stages 3/4 NREM sleep on polysomnography. However, controversies have existed and it still remains to be elaborated whether PLMS actually causes insomnia, since normal persons happen to have PLMS. Clinically, it would be crucial to know factors which might disturb sleep in PLMS. We became interested in Coleman's theory(1980) that invariant periodic movements disturb patients' sleep less. Though, Coleman's study seems to have been confounded by including PLMS patients with various co-morbid sleep disorders. Therefore, we attempted to study in patients only with PLMS the effects of movement patterns on sleep architecture. Methods : In 27 patients diagnosed as having PLMS only with clinical interview and nocturnal polysomnography, we studied the relationship between the movement patterns such as mean duration and variability of periodic limb movement's interval and the sleep architecture variables. Results : The shorter and the more regular the limb movement intervals were, the fewer arousals followed. The movement intervals of the older patients were shorter and more regular than the younger patients. The probability of the accompanying arousal with each limb movement increased as the duration and variance of the movement intervals increased. It decreased as the age and the frequency of limb movements increased. Among these factors the most significant one was the mean duration of the movement intervals. In other words, the shorter the movement intervals were, the less disturbed sleep was. Conclusion : PLMS frequency increases with aging but the probability of the accompanying arousal with each movement decreases with aging. Sleep-disturbing effects of PLMS depends more on the duration and variability of movement intervals than the PLMS frequency.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2010

Cervical disc herniations can press on the spinal cord and cause a problem called cervical myelopathy. The most common symptom of cervical disc herniation is neck pain that spreads down to the upper limb in various locations. There can also be associated with weakness and movement disorders of upper limb. In Oriental medicine, cervical disc herniation is treated with herb-med, physical therapy, acupuncture, Chuna, etc, but the Bee Venom therapy is the most common and effective. In this case, we used the Bee Venom therapy at cervical hyeopcheokhyeol for about 2 months to a patient who was diagnosed with disc herniation at Cervical 5-6, 6-7 and appealed weakness, limited elevation and abduction of the left upper limb. As a result, left upper limb disability was improved. Using the Bee Venom therapy at cervical hyeopcheokhyeol that are effective on movement disorders and neurological diseases of upper limb is an effective treatment to upper limb disability diagnosed with cervical disc herniation, and suggests the direction of the treatment to upper limb weakness and movement disorders diagnosed with cervical disc herniation.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.84-87
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• 2000

The periodic limb movement (PLM) disorder is a disease of motor sign mainly in the lower extremities, whereas the restless leg syndrome (RLS) accompanies sensory symptoms in the lower extremities. These two disorders may occur in the one patient, which implies possible common pathophysiological background in those disorders. The aim of this article is to review the clinical features, diagnostic criteria, electrophysiological characteristics of the two disorders and their relation to neurological disorders.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.318-325
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• 2019

NREX, an upper limb exoskeleton robot, was developed at the National Rehabilitation Center to assist in the upper limb movements of subjects with weak muscular strength and control ability of the upper limbs, such as those with hemiplegia. For the free movement of the shoulder of the existing NREX, three passive joints were added, which improved its wearability. For the flexion/extension movement and internal/external rotation movement of the shoulder of the robot, the ball lock pin is used to fix or rotate the passive joint. The force and torque between a human and a robot were measured and analyzed in a reaching movement for four targets using a six-axis force/torque sensor for 20 able-bodied subjects. The addition of two passive joints to allow the user to rotate the shoulder can confirm that the average force of the upper limb must be 31.6% less and the torque must be 48.9% less to perform the movement related to the axis of rotation.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.710-720
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• 2014

Movements of the upper and lower limb muscles during five common gardening tasks were analyzed by using electromyography (EMG). Twenty adults aged in their twenties (mean age, $24.8{\pm}2.4$ years) were recruited. On two separate occasions, subjects visited a garden plot to perform digging, raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing; all tasks were performed three times with 20 s intervals for each trial. To measure muscle activation during the five gardening tasks, surface EMG was used. Bipolar surface EMG electrodes were attached to eight upper limb muscles (bilateral anterior deltoid, biceps brachialis, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris) or eight lower limb muscles (bilateral vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and gastrocnemius) on both sides of the body, for a total of 16 muscles. During the five tasks, photographs were taken of movement phases using a digital video camera. The right flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis showed higher activation than the other upper and lower limb muscles measured during the tasks. All 16 upper and lower limb muscles were actively used only during digging. According to movement analysis of each activity, digging was classified into four movement phases, whereas raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing each were divided into three movement phases. In each activity, there were high-impact phases in terms of muscle activation; the flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis were identified as major muscles in each impact phase. This analysis may be used to generate biomechanical profiles of gardening tasks for practitioners when designing efficient gardening interventions for physical health or rehabilitation.