• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.79-85
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• 2011

In this paper, we proposed a design of upper-limb rehabilitation device with power-assist function for stroke survivals. The designed upper-limb rehabilitation device has three degrees of freedom； it is possible to perform flexion and extension motions of wrist, index finger and the other fingers except the thumb independently. The power-assist for wrist motion is performed by a pneumatic double-acting cylinder, but the fingers are actuated by electrical linear actuators to assist motions. A prototype upper-limb rehabilitation device and its controller were implemented. The position controller showed 0.8 mm errors in the steady-state. Experimental results showed that the proposed upper-limb rehabilitation device with power-assist function is feasible.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.129-142
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• 2014

Due to the increase of the aged population and population of the disabled today, there is a growing demand for rehabilitation medical instruments. Furthermore, there is a growing demand for evaluation indices for services that should be provided for uses of the rehabilitation medical instruments. In order to evaluate rehabilitation medical instrument designs in this study, the basic index for design evaluations shall be identified to search for assessment plans. Through this, new evaluation indices will be deduced through discussions and analysis of rehabilitation medical experts, biomedical engineers, and designers. The results of this study are summarized as follows. First, the existing design evaluation indices were collected and analyzed to construct 10 rehabilitation medical instrument design evaluation indices and 44 sub-evaluation items. These will be important evaluation standards for designing rehabilitation medical instruments in the future. Second, the design evaluation indices that must be taken into consideration when developing health care rehabilitation medical instruments are the 10 design evaluation indices of usability, cognition, safety, learning, motility, durability, economic feasibility, space, aesthetics and environmental aspects. Third, design evaluation indices of environment, space, cognition, usability, economic feasibility and aesthetics are indices that must be taken into consideration for product design, while learning, safety, motility and durability are factors that must be given special consideration for rehabilitation medical instrument design evaluation indices. Fourth, if existing product design evaluation indices placed importance on environment, space, cognition, usability, economic feasibility and aesthetics of products for design evaluation indices, rehabilitation medical instrument design evaluation indices placed importance on learning, safety, motility and durability on top of usability and economic feasibility, which are the differences between the design evaluation indices of rehabilitation medical instrument and other product designs. The 10 rehabilitation medical device design evaluation indices and 44 sub-evaluation items were carried out in this study. This research is only on the overall rehabilitation medical device design evaluation indices. In future research, the evaluation indices will be applied in the actual rehabilitation medical design device through production of prototypes, while making revisions and supplementations where necessary.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.413-420
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• 2015

This paper describes the design of an elbow rehabilitation robot based on force measurement that enables a severe stroke patient confined to their bed to receive elbow rehabilitation exercises. The developed elbow rehabilitation robot was providewitha two-axis force/torque sensor which can detect force Fz and torque Tz, thereby allowing it to measure therotational force (Tz) exerted on the elbow and the signal force Fz which can be used as a safety device. The robot was designed and manufactured for severe stroke patients confined to bed, and the robot program was manufactured to perform flexibility elbow rehabilitation exercises. Asa result of the characteristics test of the developed rehabilitation robot, the device was safely operated while the elbow rehabilitation exercises were performed. Therefore, it is thought that the developed rehabilitation robot can be used for severe stroke patients.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.374-378
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• 2021

Objective: Bilateral movement training is an effective method for upper extremity rehabilitation of stroke. An approach to induce bilateral movement through functional electrical stimulation is attempted. The purpose of this study is to develop an EMG-triggered functional electrical stimulation device for upper extremity bilateral movement training in stroke patients and test its feasibility. Design: Feasibility and Pilot study design. Methods: We assessed muscle activation and kinematic data of the affected and unaffected upper extremities of a stroke patient during wrist flexion and extension with and without the device. Wireless EMG was used to evaluate muscle activity, and 12 3D infrared cameras were used to evaluate kinematic data. Results: We developed an EMG-triggered functional electrical stimulation device to enable bilateral arm training in stroke patients. A system for controlling functional electrical stimulation with signals received through a 2-channel EMG sensor was developed. The device consists of an EMG sensing unit, a functional electrical stimulation unit, and a control unit. There was asymmetry of movement between the two sides during wrist flexion and extension. With the device, the asymmetry was lowest at 60% of the threshold of the unaffected side. Conclusions: In this study, we developed an EMG-triggered FES device, and the pilot study result showed that the device reduces asymmetry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.6_3
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• pp.1315-1323
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• 2023

Rehabilitation assistive devices not only assist the rehabilitation therapy and daily life of the disabled and the elderly, but also assist the labor of their caregivers, so various functions are required to improve their quality of life. In this study, a design method considering its practicality is introduced for an active rehabilitation assistive device that can perform both standing and walking assistance by driving various actuators. For this purpose, the force required to assist standing was calculated using statics with the body segmentation method. Also, the overturning stability of the device was verified for various physical conditions and postures. The actuator in the active rehabilitation assistive device was operated by a patient using a graphical user interface in an embedded computer and a touch panel for easy usage. The detailed design was performed for implementation through the help of 3D-CAD and the finite element analysis, and a prototype was produced. Finally, it was proven that the design goal was satisfied by experimental validation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.459-467
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• 2011

Rehabilitation exercises must maintain a patient's interest and permit a quantitative evaluation of the rehabilitation. We have developed a haptic-device system. When users move a grip, the haptic device provides a virtual force that either assists the movement of their arm or working against it. To investigate the functional effect of this system in a rehabilitation program, we used for five subjects with motor-function disorders and measured the grip position, velocity, force exerted on the grip, and EMG activities during a reaching task of one subject. The accuracy of the grip position, velocity and trajectories patterns were similar for all the subjects. The results suggested that the EMG activities were improved by applying the virtual force to the grip. These results can be used for the development of rehabilitation programs and evaluation methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.1021-1022
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• 2013

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.672-678
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• 2008

This paper proposes a new rehabilitation robot with upper and lower limb connections for gait training. As humans change a walking speed, their nervous systems adapt muscle activation patterns to modify arm swing for the appropriate frequency. By analyzing this property, we can find a relation between arm swinging and lower limb motions. Thus, the lower limb motion can be controlled by the arm swing for walking speed adaptation according to a patent's intension. This paper deals with the design aspects of the suggested gait rehabilitation robot, including a trajectory planning and a control strategy. The suggested robot is mainly composed of upper limb and lower limb devices, a body support system. The lower limb device consists of a slider device and two 2-dof footpads to allow walking training at uneven and various terrains. The upper limb device consists of an arm swing handle and switches to use as a user input device for walking. The body support system will partially support a patient's weight to allow the upper limb motions. Finally, we showed simulation results for the designed trajectory and controller using a dynamic simulation tool.

• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.17-27
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• 2018

Purpose - As Korea is reaching a post-aged society, the number of chronic illness is increasing, and the demand for rehabilitation medical device is growing. Although there is high potential for the growth in rehabilitation industry, because most of the related companies in Korea are relatively small, lacking capital or R&D resource, it is difficult for them to create an innovative product, and currently most of the high-tech equipments are imported. Therefore a medical device cluster, where business, research, medical institutes and universities may work cooperatively to enhance research development and solve issues is necessary for future development. Research design, data, methodology - In this method we have done a literature review of the rehabilitation industry and industrial cluster. Based on the studies, we have conducted an exploratory factor analysis by studying examples of foreign and domestic medical clusters and drawing success factors in forming a medical cluster. Next based on the studies we have conducted a survey to domestic medical device companies to find their difficulties and needs to form a successful medical device cluster. Results - This paper provides both theoretic review on success factors of forming a medical device cluster and practical analysis using case study and survey. Conclusion - The significance of this paper is that based on the literature review, we have compared actual examples of domestic/foreign medical clusters and drawn difference and coincidence between literature and actual cluster success factor. We were also able to conduct a survey on actual medical device companies and through the results we were able to search difficulties and necessities of medical device companies.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2023

In this study, an end-effector robot which is a two-axis delta robot type for upper-limb rehabilitation is designed. It is not only rehabilitation functions that has designed robot but also mechanical and electrical safety devices were constructed to ensure patient safety. By constructing the two-axis delta robot is combined with an LM guide, the operating range and rigidity required for rehabilitation were secured. The electrical safety system which is required for the medical robot was designed, and a safety strategy was established to ensure patient safety and it is applied in the integrated safety circuit. The safety is considered in whole design process from the robot's mechanical design to the electric control unit.