• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.9-15
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• 2009

The purposes of this study were to compare abductor hallucis (AbdH) muscle activity during toe curl exercise according to position of interphalangeal joint (IPJ). Fifteen healthy subjects with neutral foot were recruit for this study. All subjects performed toe curl exercise with towel while maintaining the IPJ in flexion (condition 1) and extension (condition 2). Toe curl exercise with towel was perform three trials for five second periods in each condition. Surface electromyography (EMG) activities were recorded from three muscles (AbdH, tibialis anterior, peroneous longus) in each condition. EMG activity was normalized to the value of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). The EMG activities acoording to position of IPJ were compared using a paired t-test. This study showed that the EMG activity of AbdH during toe curl exercise with IPJ extension significantly increased compared to those during toe curl exercise with IPJ flexion (p<.05). However, the EMG activity of tibialis anterior and peroneus longus were not significantly different between the conditions (p>.05). These results suggest that toe curl exercise with towel must be performed with extension of IPJ in order to strengthen intrinsic muscle in subjects with overuse injuries related to excessive pronation.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.59-66
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• 2009

This study investigated the irradiation pattern of muscles on the affected side in stroke patients after application of diagonal 2 extension (D2 ex) proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in the unaffected upper extremity. Seven stroke patients participated. Electromyographic activities were recorded in the iliopsoas, biceps brachii, and triceps brachii were recorded by surface electrodes at rest, D2 ex with knee extension, and D2 ex with knee 90 flexion, normalized by maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) values. The medial frequencies of biceps brachii in both sides were also measured to compare muscle type recruited. %MVIC of biceps brachii and triceps brachii were significantly higher in D2 ex than at rest (p<.05). There was no difference in median frequency of biceps brachii between the affected and unaffected side (p>.05). This suggests that proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation using D2 ex may improve muscle activities of the paretic side and that the irritation pattern of the affected side may respond to maintain body equilibrium according to movement of the sound side.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2004

Purpose : The purpose of this article is to summarize the characteristics of isotonic combination. Method : Some studies of the motor unit activation patterns during isometric, concentric, and eccentric actions, neural strategies in the control of muscle force, and concentric versus combined concentric-eccentric training were reviewed. Results & Conclusions : Eccentric torque may be relatively higher than concentric torque for two potential reasons: 1) stretch responses in the antagonist are not elicited to restrain the motion as can occur concentrically and 2) stretch responses in the agonist may augment eccentric torque production. Concentric-eccentric training has a greater influence on functional capacity than that of concentric training. Both maximal force and average force throughout the motion were significantly higher when the dynamic action was started with preactivation as compared to the mode without preactivation. The peak torques observed during the concentric phase of the eccentric-concentric muscle actions were higher than those noted in the pure concentric contraction.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.9-15
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate electromyographic activities of the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) and the flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) by the shape of the ultrasound head. Twelve healthy subjects participated and performed ultrasound therapy with a round head and a long handled head during each 5-minute application. Electromyographic activities of the FDS and FCU were recorded by surface electrodes and normalized by maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) values. There was no difference in the muscular fatigue of FDS and FCU as determined by the shape of the ultrasound head (p>.05). Without the shape of head, the mean power frequency decreased with the time. There also was no difference in %MVIC of the FDS and FCU as determined by the shape of the ultrasound head (p>.05), but the force exerted exceeded 20%MVIC. There was however a significant difference in the amount of cumulative workload of the FDS and FCU as determined by the shape of ultrasound head (p<.05). The workload was however not affected by the shape of the ultrasound head. Constant static grasp of ultrasound transducer head during ultrasound therapy is considered a high risk factor of work-related musculoskeletal disease.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.115-128
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• 2008

Purpose : This study was performed to distinguish the muscle activation of vastus medialis and biceps femoris through open and closed kinetic chain exercise. Methods : 31 healthy male and female students in Daegu Health College were participated in this study. All subjects were conducted three types open and closed kinetic chain exercises to examine muscle activity during the last four seconds using the sEMG system. Collected EMG data were normalized using the maximal voluntary isometric contraction(MVIC). Results : MVIC of each muscle was showed significantly increased(p<0.5). In the case of open chain exercise, the type 3 exercise most increased than type 2 and 3 exercise in vastus medialis than biceps femoris muscle. The closed chain exercise presented type 6 exercise most increased than type 4 and 5 exercise in biceps femoris than vastus medialis. Conclusion : This study finally proved that muscle activity which maintains stability of knee differ from depending on the types of exercises. Therefore, the combination of the two chain exercises is believed to greatly contribute to increments in muscle activity.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 1982

The in vitro experiments for isometric contraction were done to investigate the different action mechanism of calcium ion on phasic and tonic components of K-contracture in guinea pig's taenia coli. The results were as follows: 1) The degrees of K-contracture were increased gradually from 4 mM to 15, 20, 40 & 100 mM of$[K^+]_0$. The maximal developed tension in tonic component was observed in 100 mM of $[K^+]_0$. 2) The phasic components were not so affected by 2, 4, 8 & 16 mM of $[Ca^{++}]_0$ in 100 mM K-contracture, but the tonic components were gradually increased in a dose-responsive manner. 3) The K-contracture was not influenced by norepinephrine, 1 mg/l, but was completely abolished by verapamil, 2 mg/l. 4) The phasic component was little affected by verapamil, 0.01 mg/l, 0.1 mg/l, and 1 mg/l, but the tonic component was completely disappeared at the concentration of verapamil 1 mg/l. The above results suggest that $[Ca^{++}]_0.$ primarily affected the tonic component than the phasic component of K-contracture in guinea pig's taenia coli.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.63-71
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• 2015

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study to investigate the effects of exercise on lumbar stabilization in muscle activity and isokinetic muscle strength of female with chronic low back pain. METHODS: The candidates was chose to twenty women in their 30s and 40s complaining back pain for over 12 weeks and consist of 10 people for lumbar stabilization and general physical therapy group(PL group), another 10 people for general physical therapy group(GP group). Lumbar stabilization exercise was conducted for 8 weeks and was comprised of 60 minutes for two times a week. In order to examine the effects of lumbar stabilization, results in the present study were analyzed maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) using electromyogram to measure muscle activity and isokinetic performance including peak torque and average power at the pre to post. RESULTS: The following are results in this study. The MVIC and isokinetic muscle strength were gradually increased in all group. As the result of the test of the MVIC and isokinetic muscle strength, the difference of lumbar stabilization and general physical therapy group is statistically more significant than that of general physical therapy group. CONCLUSION: In the present study, results indicate that lumbar stabilization helps to improve the muscle activity and isokinetic muscle strength.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2012

Purpose : The purpose of present study was to investigate the effects of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) lifting on contralateral leg muscle activities in a seated position. Methods : Twenty healthy subjects were recruited for this study. Lifting was performed from each of the three position. An surface electromyogram (EMG) was used to record the EMG activities from vastus medialis (VM), biceps femoris (BF), tibialis anterior (TA), and gastrocnemius medialis (GM) in contralateral leg muscle. The data were analyzed using a repeated measures of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with post-hoc Bonferroni's correction to determine the statistical significance. Results : The results of this study were summarized as follows: In comparison to the start position, percentage maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC) values of the VM, TA and GM demonstrated a significantly higher activities in the end position(p<.05). Conclusion : The result shows that contralateral leg muscles activities significantly more increase in the end position when PNF lifting was applied. Therefore, this study will be used to prove effect of indirect approach for the stability and strengthening in patients with leg impairments.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to compare premotor time(PMT) and electro-mechanical delay(EMD) between sitting and standing posture. Twenty four healthy young subjects(12 women and 12 men) participated in this study. Subjects were instructed to perform maximal, voluntary, isometric contraction of ankle muscle(tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles) in reaction to auditory stimulus. PMT and EMD, calculated from stimulus, EMG and torque profile were compared between sitting and standing postures. As statistical analysis, paired t-test was performed to assess difference between sitting and standing posture. In both tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles, EMD was found to be significantly longer for standing than sitting. However, PMT in standing posture was longer than that in sitting posture only in gastrocnemius muscles. These result indicate that increased reaction time, particularly, increased EMD of ankle muscles in standing posture may be caused by co-contraction of ankle muscles for postural control in standing posture.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2020

Background: For performing various movements well, cooperation between the muscles around the scapula and shoulder has been emphasized. Taping has been widely used clinically as a helpful adjunct to other physiotherapy methods for shoulder pathology and dysfunction treatment. Previous studies have evaluated the effect of taping techniques using dynamic tapes on shoulder function and pain. However, no study investigated the electromyographic (EMG) changes in the shoulder muscles. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effect of the upper limb offload taping technique using a dynamic tape on EMG activities of the upper trapezius (UT), lower trapezius, serratus anterior (SA), and middle deltoid (MD) muscles during scaption plane elevation. Methods: A total of 26 healthy subjects (19.85 ± 6.40 years, male = 20) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were instructed to perform scaption elevation with and without dynamic taping on the shoulder. Shoulder elevation strength tests were performed at 100%, 75%, 50%, and 25%, for the maximal isometric contraction force. Results: There were statistically significant interaction effects between the taping application and shoulder scaption elevation force in EMG activities in the UT (p < 0.05) and MD (p < 0.05). EMG activities in the UT showed significant increases in 50%RVC (reference voluntary contraction, p < 0.05) and 25%RVC (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the EMG activity of the SA significantly increased in 50%RVC (p < 0.01) and 25%RVC (p < 0.01) after dynamic taping. For the MD, the EMG activity level significantly decreased in 100%RVC (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results indicated that upper limb offload dynamic taping application affects the muscle activities of some shoulder muscles depending on different scaption elevation strength levels. Therefore, we suggest that the upper limb offload dynamic taping can be applied to the shoulders when patients need middle deltoid inhibition or upper trapezius facilitation, such as patients with shoulder impingement syndrome.