• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.235-241
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the body temperature peripheral circulation with vibration shoes in healthy 10 adults. The magnetic vibration device with non-electric power was mounted in the midsole of the vibration shoes. The experiment was divided into two groups: vibration shoes and no vibration shoes. Subjects were randomly selected and measured body surface temperature by digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) and non-invasive capillaries change by nailfold microscope (NFM). After walking in a treadmill for 15 minutes at 4.0 km/h speed wearing normal shoes or vibration shoes, DITI and NFM were measured. The walking with vibration shoes showed the body surface temperature shift from the proximal to the distal. In addition, the diameter of the nailfold capillary in the vibration shoes group was thicker and clearer due to the increased blood flow than that of the no vibration shoes group. The vibration shoes are easy to apply to anyone who can walk because it can give vibration stimulation by walking without additional time, cost, and effort in daily life. Further studies are needed to explain the physiological effects of vibration frequency and intensity on the long-term perspective of target subjects resulting from vascular dysfunction.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.228-233
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• 2015

Purpose: Gait is the most basic element when evaluating the quality of life with activities of daily living under ordinary life circumstances. Symmetrical use of the lower extremities requires complicated coordination of all limbs. Thus, this study examined asymmetry of muscle activity quadriceps femoris and tibialis anterior as a baseline for training during over-ground walking and stair walking of stroke patients. Methods: Subjects were 14 stroke patients included as one experimental group. Gait speed used in this study was determined by the subject. Low extremity paretic and non-paretic EMG was compared using the surface EMG system. Results: The low extremity EMG difference was statistically significant during over-ground walking and stair walking (p<0.05). The result of low extremity EMG substituted symmetry ratio formula was compared to EMG symmetry ratio in both legs during over-ground walking and stair walking. The average symmetry ratio of quadriceps femoris during over-ground walking was 0.65, and average symmetry ratio of quadriceps femoris during stair walking was 0.47, with significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: EMG data was higher in stair walking than over-ground walking. However, in the comparison of symmetry ratio, asymmetric EMG of quadriceps femoris was significantly increased during stair walking. These findings suggested that application of stair walking for strengthening of both legs can be positive, but the key factor is maintaining asymmetrical posture of both legs. Therefore, physical therapists should make an effort to reduce asymmetry of quadriceps femoris power during stair walking by stroke patients.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.74-83
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• 2008

Purpose: To identify the effect of walking exercise on the body composition and physical fitness in obese college women. Method: The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest posttest. Thirty-seven subjects were surveyed using a structured questionnaire, and measured for body composition and physical fitness. Twenty persons in the experimental group among the total sample participated in a 12-week walking program. The data were analyzed by $x^2$-test, and t-test with SPSS 10.1 program. Results: 1) BMI, body fat mass and percentage of body fat in body composition were significantly decreased in the experimental group compared to the control. However, there was no significant difference in skeletal muscle mass between the two groups. 2) Power among physical fitness was significantly increased in the experimental group. However, there was no significant difference in muscular strength (back strength), flexibility (sit and reach), muscular endurance (abdomen curl), power (standing high jump) or agility (trunk reaction time) between the two groups. Conclusion: The above results, confirmed the effectiveness of walking exercise as an effective nursing intervention in order to improve body composition.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.443-448
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• 2006

In this paper, a novel method is proposed for generating the low-power and stable walking trajectory of biped robots, and then a biped robot with 25 DOFs(degrees of freedom) is designed and implemented for the realization of the low-power walking trajectory generated by the proposed method. In our method, first a stable VPCG(vertically projected center of gravity) trajectory is generated, and then the trajectories of ankle and pelvis of a biped robot are planned to follow the preplanned stable VPCG trajectory, which produces a waking pattern without bending its knees and enables a biped robot to walk with less power consumption. On the other hand, a biped robot implemented in this paper has the mechanical structure of foot that enables a biped robot to support on the ground well, and the mechanical structure of pelvis that enables a biped robot to move flexibly. From results of the walking experiment and power consumption measurement, it was confirmed that the proposed method can generate the more stable and flexible trajectory with less power consumption compared with the existing methods which do not use the ankle of a biped robot.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.171.2-171
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• 2001

This paper presents a force control of a arm of walking training robot. The current gait training apparatus in hospital are ineffective for the difficulty in keeping constant unloading level and constraining patients to walk freely. The proposed walking training robot is designed to unload body weight effectively during walking. The walking training robot consists of unloading manipulator and mobile platform. The manipulator driven with a electro-mechanical linear mechanism unloads body weight in various level. The mobile platform is wheel type, which allows to patients unconstrained walking. Unloading system with electro-mechanical linear mechanism has been developed, which has advantages such as low noise level, light weight, low manufacturing cost and low power consumption. A system model for the manipulator ...

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.26-33
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• 2016

This paper describes of a mathematical and real experimental analysis for a walking robot which uses servo valve driven hydraulic actuator. Recently, many researchers are developing a walking robot based on hydraulic systems for the difficult and dangerous missions such as walking in the rough terrain and carrying a heavy load. In order to design and control a walking robot, the characteristics of the hydraulic actuators in the joint through the view point of walking such as controllability and backdrivability must be analyzed. A general mathematical model was used for analysis and proceeds to position and pressure changes characteristic of the input and backdrivability experiment. The result shows the actuator is a velocity source, had a high impedance, the output stiffness is high in contact with the rigid external force. So stand above the controller and instruments that complement the design characteristics can be seen the need to apply a hydraulic actuator in walking robot.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.2205-2212
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• 1996

In order to move the body of a walking robot translationally, and step over the obstacles, the walking robot must have at least 3 degrees of freedom for each leg. Therefore each leg of the general walking robots can be composed of 3-link system with 3 revolute joints. In this paper, the colsed form of inverse kinimatic solutions is shown for this general 3R linkage. Moreover, in order to have efficient walking volume in rough terrain, the workspace of each log is obtained considering the twist angles and the offsets in D-H parameters. When we design a walking robot, the information of the walking volume is needed for planning desired trajectories of the feet effectively. Appropriate knowledge of the walking volume can also be used to maximize linear or angular velocity of minimize power of stress. However, since it is impossible to obrain the information of walking volume in 3-D space directly from the kinematic equations, the walking volume can be searched through the edge detection algorithm using the triangle tracer with closed from inverse kinematic solutions. In this study, we present the closed form inverse kinematic solutions for 3R linkage model, and the walking volume of 6 legged walking robot which is modeled after the darking bettle, Eleodes obscura sulcipennis, through the method of edge detection for an arbitrary 2 dimensional shape using triangle tracer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2011

Purpose : The purposes of this study were to find correlations among Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale, walking velocity, walking asymmetry and balance ability. Methods : The study sample consisted of 50 stroke patients referred to the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine in the Sanggye Paik, Ilsan Paik, Seoul Paik, and Dobong Hospital. All subjects were ambulatory with or without an assistive device. All participants were assessed on Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale and walking velocity, walking asymmetry. The data were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression. Results : The results revealed that upper extremity coordination, balance and pain items of Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale were significantly correlated with walking velocity and upper extremity and upper extremity motor and balance items of Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale were significantly correlated with walking asymmetry. Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale was not significantly correlated with Static Balance Index, Dynamic Balance Index and Weight Distribution Asymmetry Index. Their power of explanation regarding comfortable walking velocity and comfortable walking asymmetry were 60.3%, 42.5% respectively. Conclusion : These results showed that Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale is significantly correlated with walking velocity, asymmetry and not significantly correlated with balance ability. Therefore Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale is an appropriate assessment tool to predict walking ability of patients with stroke. Futher study about walking velocity and asymmetry by change of Fugl-Meyer Assessment scale is needed using a longitudinal study design.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.241-248
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in muscle strength, kinematics, and kinetics between injured and non-injured sides of the leg after Achilles Tendon Rupture surgery during walking and running. Method: The subjects (n=11; age = 30.63 ± 5.69 yrs; height = 172.00 ± 4.47 cm; mass = 77.00 ± 11.34 kg; time lapse from surgery = 29.81 ± 10.27 months) who experienced Achilles Tendon Rupture (ATR) surgery participated in this study. The walking and running trials were collected using infrared cameras (Oqus 300, Qualisys, Sweden, 100 Hz) on instrumented treadmill (Bertec, U.S.A., 1,000 Hz) and analyzed by using QTM (Qualisys Track Manager Ver. 2.15; Qualisys, U.S.A). The measured data were processed using Visual 3D (C-motion Inc., U.S.A.). The cutoff frequencies were set as 6 Hz and 12 Hz for walking and running kinematics respectively, while 100 Hz was used for force plate data. Results: In ATR group, muscle strength there were no difference between affected and unaffected sides (p> .05). In kinematic analysis, subjects showed greater ROM of knee joint flexion-extension in affected side compared to that of unaffected side during walking while smaller ROM of ankle dorsi-plantar and peak knee flexion were observed during running (p< .05). In kinetic analysis, subjects showed lower knee extension moment (running at 2.2 m/s) and positive ankle plantar-flexion power (running at 2.2 m/s, 3.3 m/s) in affected side compared to that of unaffected side (p< .05). This lower positive ankle joint power during a propulsive phase of running is related to slower ankle joint velocity in affected side of the subjects (p< .05). Conclusion: This study aimed to investigate the functional evaluation of the individuals after Achilles tendon rupture surgery through biomechanical analysis during walking and running trials. Based on the findings, greater reduction in dynamic joint function (i.e. lower positive ankle joint power) was found in the affected side of the leg compared to the unaffected side during running while there were no meaningful differences in ankle muscle strength and walking biomechanics. Therefore, before returning to daily life and sports activities, biomechanical analysis using more dynamic movements such as running and jumping trials followed by current clinical evaluations would be helpful in preventing Achilles tendon re-rupture or secondary injury.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.440-454
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• 2014

This study examined the wearing effect of 3D compression suits on quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG) during walking and rest. Ten males in their 20s wore three types of experimental clothing, a loose-fit wear (BS), a 3D compression suit (3D CS), and a power film welded on CS (3D WCS); in addition, EEG signals were measured during resting, walking, after walking, and after sit-ups. The results showed that a higher pressure (due to 3D CS and 3D WCS) increased the 'Concentration' level and the 'Cognitive load' of brain waves during treadmill walking due to a higher cortex activity level when walking. Differentiation was shown between two compression suits and BS was enhanced during walking on a treadmill; however, the brain waves of 'Relaxation' between two compression suits were significantly different after walking, i.e., 'Relaxation' level of 3D WCS was the highest. Rigorous exercise such as sit-ups was inefficient to distinguish the effect of compression suits on EEG. Participants perceived a higher pressure due to compression suits; however, the wear comfort of two compression suits was maintained. Two compression suits were rated as supportive and helpful during walking. Various EEG parameters such as the indices of 'Relaxation', 'Concentration' and 'Cognitive load' were effective to observe the effect of 3D compression suits on wearers' brain waves during and after walking.