• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 1994

Biofeedback devices have been used successfully to improve head control and symmetrical walking in cerebral palsied children. Biofeedback of postural sway was investigated as a therapeutic technique to reduce postural abnormality in 24 selected children with cerebral palsy. Subjects were evaluated their weight distribution of both sides during their standing before and after the visual and auditory feedback training. The effectiveness of biofeedback was compared to conventional physical therapy practices in reestabilishing symmetrical standing in cerebral palsied children. Our study found biofeedback was effective in training symmetrical standing posture.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 1997

Asymmetrical posture during static stance has been identified as a common problem in persons with hemiplegia. This study examined the effect of a purposeful exercise training program on symmetrical weight bearing in three adult persons with hemiplegia. Multiple baseline design was used. The intervention program, including ball throwing and catching, rolling ball catching and throwing, and Swiss ball pulling and stopping was introduced for 15 minutes each day during each intervention phase. Quantitative measurement of the weight distribution was taken with the Limloader. Visual inspection and mean of data revealed a significant improvement in symmetrical weight distribution. This result suggests that a purposeful exercise training program can be effective in helping persons with hemiplegia achieve symmetric stances.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.42-48
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• 1996

Weight bearing training on the involved leg is impotant for ambulation and activities of daily living in ambulatory hemiplegic patients. Traditionally, physical therapists have relied on exercise therapy and subjective evaluation. The goal for this study was to measure lower extremity weight distribution in standing with ten hemiplegic pations(M:8, F:2) and to determine the traing effect on symmetrical standing posture using a "Limloader". The Limloader is a machine designed for training symmetrical weight bearing posture. The results showed that the ability to keep the center of gravity within the limits for balance was improved significantly but the ability to adjust weight bearing on the involved leg was not (p<0.05). This study demostrated that hemiplegics can improved their symmetrical weight bearing ability using sensory biofeedback.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.90-98
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• 2008

This research selects the lifting task to be the main subject. Four experiments were designed to measure which among lifting postures, lifting heights, waist-belt, and breathing control significantly influences intra-abdominal pressure (Gallagher, 1991; Lavender, Andersson and Natarajan, 1999). The experimental results were taken to be the recommendations of the manual materials handling work design. The research findings reveal that the symmetrical stoop posture is the most significant to the intra-abdominal pressure within all lifting postures. When the lifting height is increased, the intra-abdominal pressure produced relatively goes up. Also, the combination of symmetrical stoop posture, waist-belt use, and inspiration and holding at the same time is the most efficient in carrying out lifting tasks. Simultaneously, the research discovers that for any posture, the volume of the intra-abdominal pressure is much bigger when using the waist-belt compared to when it is not used. Therefore, the waist-belt design for the lifting works might be the future research approach.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.43-47
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• 2011

Purpose: This study determined the best adjustable height supporter for stroke patients in wheelchairs for the maintenance of a symmetric sitting posture. Methods: Thirty-one stroke participants and 20 age-matched control participants were recruited. The enrolled participants were evaluated by the Force Sensitive Application (FSA) System that was used to assess weight shift and symmetry in wheelchair sitting and assess the symmetric index (SI) of subjects according to 1, 2 and 3 cm height supporters. Results: When a 1 cm height supporter was applied to the paretic side of stroke survivors, sitting postures of stroke patients were significantly more symmetrical (p<0.01). Cross tabulation between the SI of wheelchair sitting and that of the paretic side of stroke patients caused? by a 1 cm supporter showed that 21 SIs of 26 stroke patients were improved by a 1 cm supporter to the paretic side (k=0.26, p<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of the present study demonstrate that stroke patients can maintain a more symmetrical sitting posture (than is possible when simply sitting in a wheelchair seat) if a 1 cm supporter is applied to the paretic side of stroke patients.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.42-47
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• 1998

Patients with hemiplegia usually show different body weight distribution as compared with normal subjects. Asymmetrical posture during static stance has been identified as a common problem in patients with hemiplegia. The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of vision and visual feedback on body weight distribution while standing under three conditions: eyes-closed, eyes-open and visual feedback condition. Fourteen patients with hemiplegia participated in the study. Their body weight distribution during standing for 20 seconds was measured by Limloader. The data were analysed by repeated measure of one-way ANOVA. The weight bearing on the paretic limb in the eyes-open condition was significantly higher than that of the eyes-closed condition. The weight bearing on the parietic limb in the visual feedback condition was significantly higher than that of the eyes-open condition. These results suggest that patients with hemiplegia can improve their symmetrical stance ability using visual feedback.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of posture elements on symmetrical weight bearing during STS (sit-to-stand) in patients with chronic stroke. The subjects were patients diagnosed with stroke: a total of 24 patients (16 males and 8 females) participated in this study. All the participants performed STS tasks(3 foot postures and 2 arm postures). Two force plates (AMTI) were used to measure the peak vertical ground reaction force(Peak Fz) and the symmetrical ratio to peak vertical ground reaction force. The data were analyzed using independent t-test and 2-way repeated analysis of variance. The results of this study were as follows: 1) The peak Fz placed more weight on the paretic leg during STS and 2) The symmetrical ratio to the peak Fz showed a significant difference according to the foot and arm posture (p<.05), and had the highest AYM_GA ($0.87{\pm}0.12$). These results indicate that arm and leg postures during STS in patients with chronic stroke had the highest AYM_GA. We believe that the outcome of this study will be a reference for the prognosis of STS in patients with stroke.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.66-75
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• 2017

Background: After a stroke, the control of the trunk muscle may be severely impaired. Due to the importance of trunk control in complex daily postures, the ability to adopt a correct sitting posture is considered a determinant of the recovery of independent function after a stroke. Objects: The purposes of this study were to compare differences in buttock pressure between the left and right sides of hemiplegic patients and differences in their pelvic tilting angles (sagittal and coronal planes) after sitting training with visual biofeedback (VBF) in real time. Methods: Twenty-two individuals with unilateral strokes (11 left-side and 11 right-side hemiplegic stroke patients) participated in this study. Buttock pressure was measured using a pressure mat, and pelvic angles were measured using a palpation meter. Results: The asymmetry of pressure between the right and left (first and third chamber) sides was significantly decreased after the VBF training. The measurements obtained using the palpation meter revealed a significant decrease in the pelvic angles pre- versus post-intervention. Conclusion: VBF training may be distribute a patient's buttock pressure equally while in a sitting posture and increase the length of time a stroke patient can maintain a symmetrical sitting posture. It can also improve pelvic control while sitting in a neutral position.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.279-286
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to compare the electromyographic(EMG) activities of trunk and hip muscles between right and left sides while subjects performed prolonged manual task in asymmetric and symmetric weight-bearing posture. Fifteen healthy male college students were recruited for this study. The subjects were asked to perform bimanual upper extremity task for 6 minutes in two different standing postures. In the symmetric weight-bearing posture, the subjects were standing with evenly distributed body weights to both legs. In the asymmetric weight-bearing posture, the subjects distributed about 90% of their body weight onto their preferred(supporting) leg and 10% of their body weight onto the opposite leg while they were standing. EMG activities of the right and left internal oblique, erector spinae, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius were measured and normalized as % MVIC. Then the EMG data were statistically analyzed using paired t-tests. The EMG activities of all measured muscles were not significantly different between the right and left side in the symmetrical weight-bearing posture(p>0.05). However, the EMG of the supporting side internal oblique was significantly lower than the opposite side(p<0.05), and the EMG of the erector spinae, gluteus maximus, and gluteus medius were significantly greater on the supporting side(p<0.05). The results of this study support that unbalanced use of right and left muscle possibly causes the changes in muscle length which results in asymmetry of trunk and hip muscles. Furthermore, the uneven weight support onto right and left legs will cause a distortion of viscoelastic ligaments around hip and sacroiliac joints in the long run. Further studies to determine the effect of various manual tasks on the trunk and hip muscles as well as the effect of asymmetrical weight-bearing standing posture on hip and back muscle fatigue may be required.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.63-68
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• 2019

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of hyper-extended knee and asymmetric standing posture on knee joint position and lower extremity muscle activity. Thirty-three voluntary participants participated and included sixty legs in the study. The sixty legs were divided into two groups: hyper-extended knee and normal group. The muscle activity and knee extension angle were measured. In the asymmetric standing posture, the knee joint extension angle and the muscle activity of the gastrocnemius were statistically significant between the normal group and the hyper-extended knee group. Based on the results, we confirmed that the asymmetric standing posture increases the hyper-extended knee. Therefore, it will contribute to the establishment of therapeutic guide for the subjects with hyper-extended knee to maintain the symmetrical standing posture, and future studies need to be conducted including the effects of the hip joint and ankle joints.