• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.210-216
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• 2010

This study is vestibular electric stimulation applied between the mastoids during quiet standing elicits postural sway. The aim of this study was to characterize the postural sway response to continuous sinusoidal vestibular electric stimulation across various stimulus frequencies and amplitudes. Binaural bipolar sinusoidal vestibular electric stimulation was applied to the skin overlying the mastoid processes of 10 subjects while they stood on a force plate. The position of the center of pressure(COP) and signals at the feet are obtained on an force plate, while the head and whole body center of mass(COM) was measured with motion analysis system. The stimulus conditions included eight frequencies (1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, and 2Hz) and six peak amplitudes (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.7, 1 and 2mA). Each subject experienced one trial at each amplitude-frequency pair. The stimuli elicited sway in lateral plane in all subjects, as evidenced by changes in the stimulus frequency. Our results demonstrate that the vestibular system is sensitive to vestibular electric stimulation intensity changes and responds by altering the magnitude of the response accordingly.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 1972

This experiment was designed to explore specific functional relationship between the vestibular canals and the extraocular oblique muscles by observing the isometric tension responeses of the muscles to the selected vestibular canal excitation. The vestibular excitation was simulated by either stimulation of the individual canal nerve or endolymphatic fluid displacement in each canal. Each canal nerve was subjected to square wave pulses with a monopolar wire electrode placed closely to the ampullary nerve endings for electrical stimulation, and a fine stainless cannula was introduced into the each canal toward the ampulla and a minute amount $(0.5{\sim}3.5\;microliter)$ of fluid was injected in or ejected out by means of a microsyringe connected to the cannula to produce ampullopetal or ampullofugal displacement of endolymphatic fluid. The superior oblique muscle was contracted by the excitation of homolateral canals and was relaxed by contralateral canals. On the contrary, the inferior oblique was contracted by the contralateral canals and was relaxed by the homolateral canals. Summation of excitatory and inhibitory canal effects from the bilateral vestibular system was demonstrable on the tension changes of the oblique muscles. Excitation of either dual or triple canals of the unilateral vestibular system also caused summation effect on the tension response of the oblique pair; thus multiple signals from the different ampullary receptors seems to be converged into the relevant ocular motor muclei. Since the superior and inferior obliques are known to receive their motor fibers from the contralateral trochlear nuclei and intermediate nuclei of the homolateral oculomotor complex respectively, the above experimental evidences indicate that the ocular motor nuclei for oblique muscles receive excitatory signals from the contralateral vestibular canals and inhibitory signals from the homolateral canals.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.661-664
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• 2002

A control of the body posture and movement is maintained by the vestibular system, vision, and proprioceptors. Afferent signals from those receptors are transmitted to the vestibular nuclear complex, and the efferent signals from the vestibular nuclear complex control the eye movement. The postural disturbance caused by loss of the vestibular function results in nausea, vomiting, vertigo and loss of craving for life. The purpose of this study is to develop a off-vertical rotatory system for evaluating the function of semicircular canals and otolith organs, selectively, and visual stimulation system for stimulation with horizontal, vertical and 3D patterns. The Off-vertical axis rotator which stimulates semicircular canals and otolith organs selectively is composed of a comportable chair, a DC servo-motor with reducer and a tilting table controlled by PMSM. And a double feedback loop system containing a velocity feedback loop and a position feedback loop is applied to the servo controlled rotatory chair system. Horizontal, vertical, and 3D patterns of the visual stimulation for applying head mounted display are developed. And wireless portable systems for optokinetic stimulation and recording system of the eye movement is also constructed. The Gain, phase, and symmetry is obtained from analysis of the eye movement induced by vestibular and visual stimulation. Detailed data were described.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2002.07a
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• pp.455-458
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• 2002

A control of the body posture and movement is maintained by the vestibular system, vision, and proprioceptors. Especially, vestibular system has a very important function that controls the eye movement through vestibuloocular reflex and contraction of skeletal muscles through vestibulospinal reflex. However, postural disturbance caused by loss of vestibular function results in nausea, vomiting, vertigo and loss of craving for life. Lose of vestibular function leads to abnormal reflex of eye movements named nystagmus. Analysis of the nystagmus is needed to diagnose the vertigo, which is performed by means of electronystagmography (ENG). The purpose of this study is to develop a computerized system for data processing and an algorithm for the automatic evaluation of the slow component velocity (SCV) of nystagmus Induced by optokinetic(OKN) stimulation system. A new algorithm using recursive least square method (RLSM) to detect SCV of nystagmus is suggested in this paper. This method allows a fast and precise evaluation of the nystagmus, through artifact rejection techniques. The results are depicted in this paper.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.64-75
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• 2019

Vertigo and dizziness are common symptoms with various etiologies and pathogeneses. Vertigo is an illusion of motion due to disease of the vestibular system, usually a sense of rotation. Dizziness, a term that represents a wide range of non-vertigo symptoms, is commonly associated with non-vestibular disorders including old age, cardiac syncope, orthostatic hypotension, metabolic disease, anxiety, and drugs. Vertigo should be determined whether the cause is central or peripheral. Peripheral vertigo is usually benign but central vertigo is serious and often require urgent treatment. The careful history and detailed physical examinations(pattern of nystagmus, ocular tilt reaction, head impulse test and positional tests such as Dix-Hallpike maneuver) provide important clues to the diagnosis of vertigo. Most of patients have benign peripheral vestibular disorders - vestibular neuritis, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), and Meniere's disease. BPPV is a leading cause of peripheral vertigo and can easily be cured with a canalith repositioning maneuver. In this review, a focus is on the differential diagnosis of common vestibular disorders with peripheral and central causes.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.546-553
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• 2002

A control of the body posture and movement is maintained by the vestibular system, vision, and proprioceptors. Especially, vestibular system has a very important function that controls the eye movement through vestibuloocular reflex and contraction of skeletal muscles through vestibulospinal reflex. However, postural disturbance caused by loss of vestibular function results in nausea, vomiting, vertigo and loss of craving for life. Lose of vestibular function leads to abnormal reflex of eye movements named nystagmus. Analysis of the nystagmus is needed to diagnose the vertigo, which is performed by means of electrooculography(EOG). The purpose of this study is to develop a computerized system for data processing and an algorithm for the automatic evaluation of the slow component velocity(SCV) of nystagmus induced by optokinetic(OKN) stimulation system. A new algorithm using recursive least square method(RLSM) to detect SCV of nystagmus is suggested in this paper. This method allows a fast and precise evaluation of the nystagmus, through artifact rejection techniques. The results are depicted in this paper.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.263-273
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• 1997

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation on vestibular compensation following ULX in rats. Electrical stimulation (ES) with square pulse ($100{\sim}300uA$, 1.0 ms, 100 Hz) was applied to ampullary portion bilaterally for 6 and 24 hours in rats receiving ULX. After ES, animals that showed the recovery of vestibular symptoms by counting and comparing the number of spontaneous nystagmus were selected for recording resting activity of type I, II neurons in the medial vestibular nuclei (MVN) of the lesioned side. And then the dynamic neuronal activities were recorded during sinusoidal rotation at a frequency of 0.1 Hz and 0.2 Hz. The number of spontaneous nystagmus was significantly different 24 hours (p<0.01, n=10), but not 6 hours after ULX+ES. As reported by others, the great reduction of resting activity only in the type I neurons ipsilateral to lesioned side was observed 6, 24 hours after ULX compared to that of intact labyrinthine animal. However, the significant elevation (p<0.01) of type I and reduction (p<0.01) of type II neuronal activity were seen 24 hours after ULX+ES. Interestingly, gain, expressed as maximum neuronal activity(spikes/sec)/maximum rotational velocity(deg/sec), was increased in type I cells and decreased in type II cells 24 hours after ULX+ES in response to sinusoidal rotation at frequencies of both 0.1 Hz and 0.2 Hz. This result suggests that accompanying the behavioral recovery, the electrical stimulation after ULX has beneficial effects on vestibular compensation, especially static symptoms (spontaneous nystagmus), by enhancing resting activity of type I neurons and reducing that of type II neurons.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

Altered environmental gravity, including both hypo- and hypergravity, may result in space adaptation syndrome. To explore the characteristics of this adaptive plasticity, the expression of immediate early gene c-fos mRNA in the vestibular related tissues following an exposure to hypergravity stimulus was determined in rats. The animals were subjected to a force of 2 g (twice earth's gravity) for 1, 3, or 12 h, and were examined poststimulus at 0, 2, 6, 12, and 24 h. RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) and real-time quantitative RT-PCR were adopted to analyze temporal changes in the expression of c-fos mRNA. The hypergravity stimulus increased the expression of c-fos mRNA in the vestibular ganglion, medial vestibular nucleus, inferior vestibular nucleus, hippocampus, cerebellum, and cortex. The peak expression occurred at 0 h poststimulation in animals stimulated with hypergravity for 1 h, and at 6 h poststimulus in those stimulated for 3 h. In contrast, those stimulated for 12 h exhibited dual peaks at 0 and 12 h poststimulus. Bilateral labyrinthectomy markedly attenuated the degree of c-fos mRNA expression. Glutamate receptor antagonist also dramatically attenuated the degree of c-fos mRNA expression. These results indicate that expression of c-fos mRNA in response to hypergravity occurs in the vestibular related tissues of the central nervous system, in which peripheral vestibular receptors and glutamate receptors play an important role. The temporal pattern of c-fos mRNA expression depended on the duration of the hypergravity stimulus.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.365-371
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the effects of training in vestibular sensory stimulation on balance and gait of stroke patients. Methods: Twenty patients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=10) or the control group (n=10). Patients in the experimental group received rotational stimulation training, vertical-horizontal stimulation training, gait training on a flat surface with vestibular sensory stimulation, and gait training on soft ground with vestibular sensory stimulation. Patients in the control group received general treadmill gait training. The intervention was applied four times per week, 25 minutes each time, for a period of four weeks. We measured Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Biodex Balance System, Timed up to Go (TUG) test and Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) to evaluate balance and gait ability. Results: BBS differed significantly in both groups between before and after the intervention (p<0.05) and changes in BBS after the intervention differed between the two groups (p<0.05). According to the Biodex Balance System test result, only the experimental group showed significant changes in balance in the conditions of static eyes open (SEC), dynamic eyes open (DEO), and dynamic eyes closed (DEC) (p<0.05). TUG test results differed significantly between prior to and after the training in both the experimental group and the control group (p<0.05) and changes in TUG after the intervention differed significantly between the two groups (p<0.05). DGI results showed significant change after the intervention in the experimental group only (P<0.05). Conclusion: Training in vestibular sensory stimulation was effective in improving static-dynamic balance and gait ability of stroke patients.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.51 no.9
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• pp.190-199
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• 2014

In this paper, the vestibular hair bundle feature model and integrated vestibular hair cell model were proposed. In conventional modeling studies of vestibular system, only partial mechanisms were modeled, such as the characteristics of the vestibular hair bundles without external forces or the action potential of synapse, and the study about action potential of vestibular afferent considering the characteristics of the vestibular hair bundle was not performed. The proposed integrated vestibular hair cell model reflects external forces considering negative stiffness features of each hair bundles with different regularities of hair cells and our model was compared with conventional model without external forces. As a result, irregular afferent and intermediate afferent with high ratio of firing frequency variations to the changes of external stimulation had small width of negative stiffness section, but the width of the negative stiffness of regular afferent with low ratio was similar to that of conventional negative stiffness features. And the proposed integrated vestibular hair cell model showed almost same results with conventional data with animal experiments in 11 chosen frequency bands. It is verified that our proposed hair bundle feature model is adequately modeled.