• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.171-183
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• 1995

This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between tensed mandibular positions, muscle tenderness and EMG activity, respectively, and between range of motion of the neck and sternocleidomastoid muscle tenderness. Under stressful conditions, most of people take several types of behavioral patterns. Two of them observed frequently are clenching of teeth and grasping of fist. Prolonged clenching or grasping should increase electromyographic activity of associated muscle, especially muscles of mastication and neck muscles and will cause hyperfunction, dysfunction and muscle pain. So it is necessary to relate EMG activity with muscle pain. The author performed routine clinical examination in 47 patients with Temporomandibular Disorders, especially for presence or absence of muscle tenderness. Mandibular rest position was used as a baseline reference position and two more position in which EMG activity was taken were rest postion with grasping of fist and teeth clenching position. BioEMG of Biopak system (Bioresearch Inc, USA) was used for measuring of integrated EMG in masseter, anterior temporalis, anterior belly of digastic muscle and sternocleidomastoid muscle. To measure of the range of neck motion. CROM(Cervical-Range-of Motion, USA) was used. The obtained results were as follows : 1. EMG activity of all muscles except in masseter was higher in grasping of fist than those in rest position and there were significant correlation in EMG activity between the two position except in anterior belly of digastric muscle. 2. When comparing EMG activity between tender and non-tender muscle, all examined muscles did not show any significant difference. From this data, we could conclude that EMG activity was generally not changed with tenderness, of couse, it might be dependent with degree of muscle tenderness. 3. Number of tender points in examined muscles was also not significantly different between in patients with masticatory muscle disorders and in patients with internal derangement. 4. Cervical posture and range of motion of the neck was not differed significantly between in patients with and in patients without tenderness of sternocleidomastoid muscle.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.253-261
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The Purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in the thickness of Sternocleidomastoid muscle(SCM) and deep cervical flexor muscle(DCF) through CranioCervical Flexion Exercise(CCFEx) Using Sling. METHODS: Subjects were randomly allocated two group: control group (n=21) without neck pain, experimental group (n=17) with pain. Muscle thickness was measured using CranioCervical Flexion Test(CCFT) and ultrasonography before or after intervention. RESULTS: In experimental group, compared with muscle thickness of exercise before, SCM thickness rate of change was slightly decreased according to pressure increased after exercise(p<.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that CCFEx using sling is effective for SCM and DCF of choric neck pain patients.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.115-123
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the coordination patterns of the sternocleidomastoid and posterior cervical muscles in response to symmetrical and asymmetrical jaw functions in normal adults. Methods: Twenty-seven healthy volunteers (8 females, 19 males; mean age, $30.4{\pm}2.5$ years) participated in this study. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to record activities in the masseter, suprahyoid, sternocleidomastoid, and posterior cervical muscles at rest and during maximum tooth clenching, biting of a cotton roll with the anterior teeth, unilateral biting of a cotton roll with the posterior teeth, bilateral biting of cotton rolls with the posterior teeth, and jaw opening while seated. Normalized amplitude, activity indices, and asymmetry indices were compared between the muscles and the jaw tasks. Results: During symmetrical jaw functions (e.g., tooth clenching, biting with the anterior teeth, bilateral biting with the posterior teeth, jaw opening), the sternocleidomastoid and posterior cervical muscles showed elevated EMG amplitudes compared with the resting condition. The co-activation pattern of the sternocleidomastoid muscle was more pronounced than those of the posterior cervical muscles during these tasks. During asymmetrical jaw functions (e.g., unilateral biting with the posterior teeth), the ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid and masseter muscles showed higher contraction activity than did the contralateral muscles, but the contralateral posterior cervical muscles were more active than the ipsilateral muscles. Conclusions: The sternocleidomastoid and posterior cervical muscles were shown to be co-activated and coordinated anteroposteriorly or bilaterally according to symmetrical or asymmetrical jaw function. These results suggest an integrated neural control mechanism for the jaw and neck muscles, and provide further evidence supporting the intimate functional coupling between the trigeminal and cervical neuromuscular systems.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.2321-2326
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• 2011

Cervical vertebrae are a complex structure and an important part of human body connecting the head and the trunk. In this paper, we propose a method to extract sternocleidomastoid muscle from ultrasonography images of cervical vertabrae automatically. In our method, Region of Interests(ROI) is extracted first from an ultrasonography image after removing unnecessary auxiliary information such as metrics. Then we apply Ends-in search stretching algorithm in order to enhance the contrast of brightness. Average binarization is then applied to those pixels which its brightness is sufficiently large. The noise part is removed by image processing algorithms. After extracting fascia encloses sternocleidomastoid muscle, target muscle object is extracted using the location information of fascia according to the number of objects in the fascia. When only one object is to be extracted, we search downward first to extract the target muscle area and then search from right to left to extract the area and merge them. If there are two target objects, we extract first from the upper-bound of higher object to the lower-bound of lower object and then remove the fascia of the target object area. Smearing technique is used to restore possible loss of the fat area in the process. The thickness of sternocleidomastoid muscle is then calculated as the maximum thickness of those extracted objects. In this experiment with 30 real world ultrasonography images, the proposed method verified its efficacy and accuracy by health professionals.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.44-52
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• 2018

Background: The deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscles have a crucial role in the management of neck pain. For preventing neck pain by activation of the DCF, craniocervical flexion (CCF) is an effective exercise. However, sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle is considered to affect negatively the activation of the DCF. SCM muscle which is an accessory muscle for respiration is activated differently depending on types of breathing patterns. It's not certain that breathing patterns affect the SCM and DCF muscles thickness during CCF exercise. Objects: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of breathing patterns on the SCM and DCF muscles thickness during CCF exercise. Methods: Forty-five subjects participated in this study, and they were classified according to their breathing pattern, as follows: costodiaphragmatic breathing (CDB) and upper costal breathing (UCB) groups. Ultrasonographic imaging of the SCM and DCF muscles was performed during five incremental levels of CCF during tidal breathing and expiration. Results: There was a significant interaction between the breathing pattern and the phase of CCF for percentage of SCM muscle thickness changes (p<.05). In phase 1 CCF, a percentage of SCM muscle thickness changes was increased in the UCB group than in the CDB group (p<.05). There was an increase in DCF muscles thickness with each additional CCF phase (p<.05). Conclusion: Recruitment of SCM muscle was increased in the UCB group while performing CCF with a low intensity. There were no significant differences on DCF recruitment between the breathing pattern groups. Higher CCF exercise intensities elicited a higher DCF recruitment.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.119-132
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• 2010

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to compare interrelations between stress and muscles of neck through stress response inventory(SRI), 7 zone diagnostic system and surface electromyography(sEMG). Methods : This study was carried out with the data from SRI, 7 zone diagnostic system and sEMG. First subjects were divided into two group according to the SRI points. subjects in group A had points of SRI in which lower than 30 points. Subjects in group B had points of SRI in which higher than 30 points. And subjects were divided into nonstress group(Group C) and stress grouop(Group D) according to the result of 7 zone diagnostic system. Then we investigated how to differentiate the muscle contraction, fatigue, recovery and asymmetry ratio on sEMG for each groups. Results : In this study, the muscle contraction of both upper trapezius muscle and left sternocleidomastoid muscle and left scalene muscle in stress group were higher than nonstress group significantly. And the muscle recovery of left sternocleidomastoid muscle and left scalene muscle in stress group were higher than nonstress group significantly. Conclusions : This results show that the stress was associated with muscle condition.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.234-239
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• 2015

Purpose: This study is not a fragmentary study on characteristics of respiratory synergist when breathing, however it was intended to determine the effect of currently available respiratory exercise and to provide basic clinical information through investigation of oxygen demand and respiratory synergist that mobilizes for respiration during application of respiratory exercise. Methods: Experimental group I was selected from second grade of severity classification of GOLD, which has the highest percentage among patients with COPD, and experimental group II was selected from third grade of severity classification as a clinical sampling. After respiration pursing up lips and diaphragm respiration exercise were mediated together for six weeks, activity of respiratory muscles and oxygen saturation were measured and analyzed. Results: In comparison of change of respiratory synergist and oxygen saturation, activity of respiratory synergist in sternocleidomastoid muscle and scalene muscle showed a meaningful decrease in experimental group I. And, in comparison of change of respiratory synergist and oxygen saturation, activity of respiratory synergist in rectus abdominis muscle showed a meaningful increase in experimental group II. In comparison of change of respiratory synergist and oxygen saturation, activity of respiratory synergist in sternocleidomastoid muscle, scalene muscle, and rectus abdominis muscle showed a meaningful difference between experimental groups. Conclusion: Respiratory synergists work mainly as agonist of chest and upper limbs. Therefore it is very important to lower mobilization of respiratory synergist when breathing. It is considered that a multilateral approach and continued clinical research for improvement of respiratory function for patients with COPD will be needed in the future.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.279-284
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of head posture and respiratory pattern on muscle activities of sternocleidomastoid (SCM) and scalene during maximal respiration. The seventeen subjects with upper-costal breathing pattern were participated in this study. Surface electromyography was used to measure the muscles activities of SCM and scalene. The volume and velocity of inspiration were monitored by using the spirometer in each subject. Each subject was performed the 3-cycle of respiration in each condition. The mean values of three peak muscle activity in each muscle were used in the data analysis. A2 (head posture: forward head posture: FHP vs. neutral posture) X 2 (breathing pattern: costal vs. diaphragmatic) repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the normalized muscle activities of the SCM and scalene. The results showed that the muscle activities of SCM and scalene in diaphragmatic breathing were significantly lower than those in costal breathing for each head posture (p<.0125). The muscle activities of SCM in neutral position were lower than those in forward head position during costal breathing (p<.0125). The diaphragmatic breathing in neutral position of head is recommended to decrease the tension of the accessory inspiratory muscles during respiration in neck-pain patients with FHP.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.159-163
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• 2015

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the interaction among the neck, trunk, and lower extremities on the non-paretic side in head rotation along with non-paretic-side weight shifting of stroke patients. To compare stroke patients' ability to control posture through muscle activity variation related to pertubation during head rotation along with the non-paretic limb. Methods: We tested 15 hemiplegic patients and 15 normal individuals. Each group's muscle activity was measured by electromyography in neutral head position and head rotation position. We compared each group's resu lt based on measured values in patients' non-paretic neck muscles, trunk muscles, and lower limbs muscles activation. Results: The study showed that muscle activity increased in the sternocleidomastoid muscle (102.26%, 53.00%), splenius capitis muscle (97.93%, 54.93%), erector spinae muscle (241.00%, 127.60%), external oblique abdominal muscle (256.66%, 152.00%), and internal oblique abdominal muscle (252.80%, 152.6%), peroneus longus muscle (117.53%, 137.13%) and gastrocnemius muscle (119.06%, 137.20%), while the results for the sternocleidomastoid muscle, splenius capitis muscle, erector spinae muscle, external oblique abdominal muscle, internal oblique abdominal muscle, peroneus longus muscle, and gastrocnemius muscle showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is hard for stroke patients to engage in normal movement control under suggested conditions because of the insufficient movement against gravity on the stroke patient's non-paretic side and impaired cooperative patterns. To solve these problems, patients need their bodies to improve through effective movement, resulting in advanced control of their effective and functional activity.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.297-302
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• 2011

Many WMSDs(work-related-musculoskeletal disorders) have been reported in diverse industries and have also attracted much attention in recent years. Neck-related MSD is generally known as one of common WMSDs, especially it happens to workers who are working at the automobile assembly plants and/or shipyards. The awkward posture is considered as a main cause of neck-related MSDs. A neck supporter was developed to prevent neck-related MSDs, and 10 males were recruited to evaluate the newly developed neck supporter by measuring subjective discomfort ratings of whole body, shoulder, neck and neck-muscle activities. Muscle activities from four neck muscle groups(left/right sternocleidomastoid and upper/middle trapezius) were measured while simulating an automobile assembly task. Results showed that the neck supporter help to significantly improve subjective discomfort for whole-body, shoulder as well as neck body parts. The analyses of muscular activities also showed that the activities of left/right sternocleidomastoid muscles were statistically decreased with the neck supporter in this study. The muscle activities of upper/middle trapezius in case of wearing the neck supporter were not significantly different with the muscle activities in case of no-wearing the neck supporter. Overall findings verified that the neck supporter might help to prevent neck-related MSDs based on the current study.