• PNF and Movement
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.415-424
• /
• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the effects of various wheelchair handling directions on the upper limb muscle activities of wheelchair attendants while climbing a ramp. Methods: For the study participants, healthy males over 20 years of age were chosen, and the order of the direction of wheelchair handle grip was determined using a randomized method. The handling directions for pushing the wheelchair up a ramp included a general grip with ulnar deviation, a medial grip with wrist pronation, and a neutral grip with a neutral wrist. The muscle activities in the participants' upper limbs were measured using surface electromyography. For statistical data processing, SPSS 18.0 was used to perform repeated measures ANOVA in order to compare the muscle activity among the intervention groups. A contrast test was also conducted among the participants. The significance level (${\alpha}$) was set to 0.05. Results: There was a significant difference between groups using a general grip and a medial grip in the biceps brachii, triceps brachii, and flexor carpi radialis muscles (p<0.05). There was also a significant difference between using a general grip and a neutral grip in the biceps brachii and flexor carpi radialis muscles (p<0.05), and there was a significant difference between using a medial grip and a neutral grip in the biceps brachii and extensor carpi radialis brevis muscles (p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, the wheelchair assistants' wrist muscle activity was the lowest with a neutral grip while ascending a ramp. Accordingly, this study proposes that wheelchair assistants push wheelchairs up ramps with a neutral grip.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.219-228
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This study was a comparative analysis of stroke-related factors between recurrent patients and non-recurrent patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study design was used, and data were collected from March 2020 to April 2020 using electronic medical records. 244 patients (221 first-timers and 23 recurrent) were included in this study. Results: The stroke recurrence rate in 5 years was 9.4%, the readmission rate was 39.3%, and the mortality rate was 2.0%. The number of patients hospitalized for stroke was greater among men than among women. Of the patients, 60.7% had an underlying disease. With regard to daily life abilities, over 70% of participants needed more than moderate dependence and about 40% of participants had more than mild cognitive impairment. More than 50% were moved to wheelchairs or stretcher cars. The difference in the stroke readmission rate between recurrent and non-recurrent patients was statistically significant. Conclusions: Based on our findings, a program to prevent recurrence of stroke should be developed to considering age, ability of daily living, place of discharge, gait ability at discharge, and place of discharge.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
• /
• v.35 no.3
• /
• pp.59-66
• /
• 2019

In recent years, urban regeneration is focused on smart and pedestrian oriented development utilizing various mobility technology. The characteristics of walkways needs to reflect such development orientations. This research is the first step to find an adequate slope for ramp replacing stairs and shared by pedestrians, personal mobilities and powered wheelchairs. It aims to check if ramps on a recommended degree of angle by general guidelines are more preferred than stairs and find out what make difference of such preferences. Two surveys were conducted at $9^{\circ}$ and $9.6^{\circ}$ ramps coexisted with stairs at sequential and parallel location. The study on the survey result found that the general evaluation of $9^{\circ}$ ramp was better than $9.6^{\circ}$ ramp but $9^{\circ}$ ramp was not preferred than stairs while $9.6^{\circ}$ ramps was preferred. The difference of preferences was related to characteristics of stairs. The stair with shorter tread and riser next to $9^{\circ}$ ramp was evaluated much better than stairs next to $9.6^{\circ}$ ramp. Therefore the research concludes that $10.0^{\circ}$ which many guidelines recommend for the maximum slop of a ramp was not adequate for a ramp to replace stairs as a preferred means of vertical circulation. In addition the research found that the preference was sensitive to moving direction and gender especially in regards to comfort of stairs and safety of ramp. Most pedestrians chose a means of vertical circulation based on its comfort but pedestrian's evaluation of safety was most different based on moving direction.

• PNF and Movement
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.375-382
• /
• 2021

Purpose: The objectives of the present study were to investigate the disadvantages of tire pressure asymmetry of a wheelchair tire and recommend the criterion for appropriate tire pressure without generating negative changes in the musculoskeletal system in asymptomatic participants. Methods: Fourteen asymptomatic participants were asked to sit in pressure-controlled wheelchairs and perform desk work for 20 minutes in each tire condition. The asymmetry of the tire conditions was set as 0% difference, 25% difference, and 50% difference from the recommended pressure. The pelvic alignment and muscular recruitment represented as a flexion-relaxation ratio (FRR) were measured at pre-test, and after each condition of desk work. The displacement of the center of pressure (COP) was measured during the desk work. Results: The tire air pressure condition significantly affected the FRR and COP (P < 0.05). Both sides of the FRR values were significantly higher under the symmetrical tire conditions (0% difference) and pre-test, compared with the asymmetrical tire condition of 50% difference (P < 0.05). The mediolateral COP displacement of the asymmetrical tire conditions (25% and 50% difference) was significantly higher than that of the symmetrical tire conditions (0%) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Asymmetrical tire conditions could cause changes in the muscle recruitment pattern of the erector spine and mediolateral COP displacement. Tire pressure asymmetry higher than 50% could be a risk factor for prevalence of back pain, so this level of asymmetry in tire pressures should be cautioned against for wheelchair users.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.672-686
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study derived the planning factors affecting the evacuation route of facilities for the disabled and to identify the planning factors that affect each facility. Method: The PLS(Partial Least Square)Regression analysis was used to solve the problem of multicollinearity and number of samples. Result: As a result of analysis, The most important planning elements for each facility were derived as door: closing time (1.131), corridor: ramp for wheelchairs (1.227), stairs: emergency lighting for stairs (1.117), and evacuation space: evacuation space convenience facilities (1.106). Conclusion: In order to plan an effective evacuation route for the disabled, a universal design should be applied to consider the perception, needs, and satisfaction of the disabled, rather than a comprehensive reflection.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.9-13
• /
• 2022

Electric wheelchairs, the output from the motor is mainly applied to a speed reducer using a power transmission device such as a belt or a chain. However, although a speed reducer using a belt or chain is a simple device, it occupies a lot of space and has a space limitation, so it is not suitable for an electric wheelchair driving part. However, since the speed reducer of the planetary gear type is decelerated on the same axis, the volume can be reduced, so the space constraint is less than that of the belt or chain type reducer. Therefore, in this study, a driving part that can obtain great propulsion with a speed reducer using a planetary gear type was developed through a study on the driving part of a wheelchair that can be switched between manual and electric. Accordingly, the tooth shape of the planetary gear applied to the reducer was designed using the Kisssoft program. In addition, the drive part was designed to be applicable to the existing wheelchair wheels, and the mechanism was optimized for the manual/electric switching principle and operation principle of the drive part. Based on the research contents, the final design and manufacture of the wheelchair reducer drive unit in the form of a planetary gear having one sun gear, two planetary gears and one ring gear was carried out.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2024

Despite the continuous efforts to mitigate pedestrian accidents at crosswalks, the problem persist. Vulnerable groups, including the elderly and disabled individuals are at a risk of being involved in traffic incidents. This paper proposes the implementation of object detection algorithm using the YOLO v5 model specifically for pedestrians using assistive devices like wheelchairs and crutches. For this research, data was collected and utilized through image crawling, Roboflow, and Mobility Aids datasets, which comprise of wheelchair users, crutch users, and pedestrians. Data augmentation techniques were applied to improve the model's generalization performance. Additionally, ensemble techniques were utilized to mitigate type 2 errors, resulting in 96% recall rate. This demonstrates that employing ensemble methods with a single YOLO model to target transportation-disadvantaged individuals can yield accurate detection performance without overlooking crucial objects.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.95-104
• /
• 2014

Today, the number of the elderly living alone without any family members is on a sharp rise, and those aged people living alone are making these social issues such as solitary death, depression and suicide more popular. In order to resolve the issues, some of the local governments have been supporting the elderly living alone in common houses that would be used by senior citizens only. This study became interested in this 'carnation house' which has been carried out targeting the elderly living alone in Gyeonggi-do, and selected elementary universal design factors that should be applied to general residential environments of the aged people and analyzed the factors. As a case study, this research investigated four carnation houses as research subjects and came up with these following ideas about how to make improvements. First, the study found out that all the entrances did not have raised letters and that UD has not been satisfactorily applied to both the thresholds and the effective widths, and that is considered something to be fixed. Second, in case of regular rooms and living rooms, none of the rooms failed to have safety doorknobs which should have been installed and plus, thresholds and stepped pulleys need to be removed, Third, it goes the same with the kitchens, and the thresholds should be eliminated while cabinets are secured. In addition, furniture that understands the elderly's measurements should be used. Fourth, in terms of restrooms, they should be designed to be spacious enough not to cause anyone in wheelchairs inconvenience, and the study suggests that the effective widths should be widened and that both the safety doorknobs and the emergency calls must be installed. Basically, after the test on the UD adaptability, the study concluded that the application rates in connection with the adaptability were low which led the study to assume that such result has been gained due to the lack of installation standards in relation to the common living facilities of the elderly. The study now argues that purposes of buildings should be first clarified and then, these detailed space planning guidelines that deal with general characteristics of the aged people should be established.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.178-188
• /
• 1997

As a descriptive survey, this study was attempted to get basic data necessary to recognize the factors that disturb the therapeutic atmosphere of hospital wards as perceived by nurses and hospitalized patients, to identify differences between the perceptions of the nurses and of patients. The subjects, 159 patients in Pusan National Hospital and 68 nurses working there were sampled between March 18 and April 13, 1996. The tool used to measure the disturbing factors was an amended form of the one developed by Kim, Mae Ja(1983). The differences between each subject's score for each factor were analyzed using means & SD. and the highest 3 items above the mean score for each factor were collected and compared. The results are described below : 1. Subject's perception of main disturbing factors : patients reported that the main factors were 'loss of role & economic trouble', 'the prognosis of disease', 'the change of daily life' but nurses replied that the main factors were' the prognosis of disease', 'the communication trouble with the medical team & interpersonal relationships'. 'The change of daily life' was not a perceved factor by nurses, but ranked third by the patients. 2. Subject's perception degree of each disturbing factor : (1) among the items related to interpersonal relationship. the patient group reported that the worst disturbance was dur to severely ill patients in the same room' but the nurse group regarded 'greed to monopolize wheelchairs or other supplies' as the worst disturbance. (2) among the items related to physical factors. the patient group regarded 'limitations to wash their body, physical pain and limitations in physical activity' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded' physical pain', and 'limitations to activity or change of appearance' as the worst disturbance. (3) among the items related to the change of daily activity, the patient group regarded 'the boredom of hospitalization or infavorable diet' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded 'too much noise or unclean room' as the worst disturbance. (4) among the items related to the communication trouble with medical team, the patient group regarded 'the ignorance of their disease due to poor information. the inability to understand the language of the medical team or the difficulty in seeing physician in time' as the worst disturbance, but the nurse group regarded 'the inability to trust physicians and physician's poor attention to patients' as the worst disturbance.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.21 no.11
• /
• pp.851-860
• /
• 2020

With an increase in the aging population and a rising social interest in health and welfare, studies to improve healthcare in the elderly are being actively conducted. This study attempted to improve the current design and manufacture of elevating electric wheelchairs to enhance user safety and convenience. Seat design based on the user's body shape, convenience while boarding or alighting, caster turning radius and, safety and stability features that prevent shaking when the user gets up or sits down were improved. A driving experiment was conducted to evaluate the operation of the indoor electric wheelchair designed and manufactured with these additional functionalities. During the test, the performance parameters evaluated were continuous driving time, turning radius, maximum lifting and lowering load, maximum lifting height, noise level, minimum distance sensing by the driving auxiliary sensor, ability to interact with server and app programs, and the duty cycle maximum error rate. The test confirmed that this improved electric wheelchair successfully met target parameters. In a future study, we will evaluate this improved electric wheelchair from a user's perspective for its usability parameters, such as satisfaction, convenience and stability.