• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2016

This paper describes the design of an ankle rehabilitation robot for the force measurement of a severe stroke patient staying in a bed ward. The developed ankle rehabilitation robot was attached to a three-axis force/torque sensor that could detect force Fx, Fz, and torque Tz and measure the ankle rotation force (Fx) exerted on the ankle and the signal force Fz and torque Tz to be used as a safety device. The robot was designed and manufactured for bedridden stroke patients, and the robot program was manufactured to perform the flexibility rehabilitation exercise for ankle bending and to measure the ankle force to judge the degree of rehabilitation. According to the result of the characteristics test of the developed rehabilitation robot, it was safely operated while the ankle-bending flexibility rehabilitation exercise and the emergency situation were performed. Therefore, it is thought that the developed rehabilitation robot can be used for severe stroke patients.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.357-363
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• 2013

Most serious patients who have the paralysis of their ankles can't use of their feet freely. But their ankles can be recovered by an ankle bending rehabilitation exercise and a ankle rotating rehabilitation exercise. Recently, the professional rehabilitation therapeutists are much less than stroke patients in number. Therefore, the ankle-rehabilitation robot should be developed. The developed robot can be dangerous because it can't measure the applied bending force and twisting moment of the patients' ankles. In this paper, the six-axis force/moment sensor for the ankle-rehabilitation robot was specially designed the weight of foot and the applied force to foot in rehabilitation exercise. As a test results, the interference error of the six-axis force/moment sensor was less than 2.51%. It is thought that the sensor can be used to measure the bending force and twisting moment of the patients' ankles in rehabilitation exercise.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.8-12
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• 2023

Purpose: Recently, many studies on robotic rehabilitation have been conducted, but such studies on patients with ankle sprains are lacking. This study aimed to investigate the effects of robot-assisted rehabilitation on the range of motion of the ankle and balance in patients with ankle sprain. METHODS: This study used the A-B-A' design and was conducted for a total of fifteen days. The subjects performed general physical therapy for five days each, during the baseline A and A' periods. In period B, robot rehabilitation was performed for five days, along with general physical therapy. The subjects were evaluated based on weight-bearing lunge test (WBLT), single leg stance (SLS), and functional reach test (FRT). RESULTS: The WBLT, STS, and FRT showed significant improvement in periods B and A' compared to period A, but there was no significant improvement in period A' compared to period B. Conclusion: This study confirmed that robot-assisted rehabilitation was an effective intervention for improving the function of patients with ankle sprain. In the future, a study with a control group comparison should be performed.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.31-36
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• 2020

Purpose: Scar contracture influence the outcome of burn patients significantly. This study aims to investigate the feasibility of robot-assisted training for the lower extremity rehabilitation of burn patients. Methods: This pilot study was conducted on 7 burn patients for 8 weeks between January 2019 and November 2019. Two of 7 patients withdrew from this study because one had skin abrasion on the legs which thigh fastening devices were applied on and the other was not participate in the assessment at 4 weeks after training. Final 5 patients received gait training with SUBAR^® and numeric rating scale (NRS), 6-minutes walking test, and range of motion in flexion and extension of knee and ankle joint were evaluated before training, 4 weeks and 12 weeks after training. Results: The subjects had a mean age of 51.8±98 years, mean total burn surface area of 30.8±13.7%, mean duration from injury to 1^st assessment of 102.8±39.3 days. Anyone of 5 patients did not have musculoskeletal or cardiovascular side effects such as increased or decreased blood pressure or dizziness. The significant improvement in NRS, gait speed, and range of motion in knee extension and ankle plantarflexion after robotic training (all P<0.05). Conclusion: Robot-assisted training could be feasible for the rehabilitation of burn patients and it could improve muscle strength and range of motion in lower extremities, and gait function.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.503-509
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• 2015

In this paper, we designed and tested an ankle joint mechanism for a gait rehabilitation robot. Gait rehabilitation programs are designed to improve the natural leg motion of patients who have lost their walking capabilities by accident or disease. Strengthening the muscles of the lower-limbs and stimulation of the nervous system corresponding to walking helps patients to walk again using gait assistive devices. It is an obvious requirement that the rehabilitation system's motion should be similar to and as natural as the normal gait. However, the system being used for gait rehabilitation does not pay much attention to ankle joints, which play an important role in correct walking as the motion of the ankle should reflect the movement of the center of gravity (COG) of the body. Consequently, we have designed an ankle mechanism that ensures the safety of the patient as well as efficient gait training. Also, even patients with low leg muscle strength are able to operate the ankle joint due to the direct-drive mechanism without a reducer. This safety feature prevents any possible adverse load on the human ankle. The additional degree of freedom for the roll motion achieves a gait pattern which is similar to the normal gait and with a greater degree of comfort.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2016

This paper describes the design and fabrication of a two-axis force/torque sensor and an one-axis force sensor with parallel plate beams(PPSs) for measuring forces and torque in an ankle rehabilitation exercise using by a lower rehabilitation robot. The two-axis force/torque sensor is composed of a Fy force sensor and Tz torque sensor and the force sensor detects x direction force. The two-axis force/torque sensor and one-axis force sensor were designed using by FEM(Finite Element Method), and manufactured using strain-gages. The characteristics experiment of the two-axis force/torque sensor and one-axis force sensor were carried out respectively. As a test results, the interference error of the two-axis force/torque sensor was less than 1.56%, the repeatability error and the non-linearity of the two-axis force/torque sensor were less than 0.03% respectively, and the repeatability error and the non-linearity of the one-axis force sensor were less than 0.03% and 0.02% respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.503-515
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• 2011

We developed a walking-assistance robot for walking rehabilitation and assessed the kinematic characteristics of a prototype. The walking-assistance robot is composed of hip, knee, and ankle joints, and each joint is driven by a motor with a decelerator. The equations of angular displacement while walking were derived by theoretically analyzing human locomotion, and the calculated angular displacements were then applied to the robot controller. The output angular displacement of each joint was measured and compared with its input angular displacement in walking experiments on a treadmill at various walking speeds and strides. The differences between the input and output angular displacements are 5.22% for the hip and 2.97% for the knee joints, and it has been confirmed that the walking-assistance robot works well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.934-939
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• 2011

This paper experimentally deals with the relationship between the ankle electromyogram(EMG) and walking motion in order to activate the ankle joint of a walking-assistance robot for rehabilitation. Based on the anatomical structure and motion pattern of an ankle joint, major muscles were selected for EMG measurements. Surface EMG signals were monitored for several human bodies at various stride distances and stride frequencies. Root-mean-squared magnitude of EMG signals were related with the walking conditions. It appeared that the magnitude of the ankle EMG signal was linearly proportional to the stride distance and stride frequency, and thus to the walking speed.