• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2018

Purpose : The aim of this study was to compare the muscle activities of thumb and wrist during unimanual, bimanual symmetric and bimanual reciprocal movements using surface electromyography. Method : Thirty-six participants were involved in this study. Two blocks were used to perform unimanual, bimanual symmetric and bimanual reciprocal movements of thumb and wrist. Muscle activities in the flexor pollicis brevis, abductor pollicis brevis, extensor carpi radialis and flexor carpi radialis were measured using an surface EMG system. Result : For the flexor pollicis brevis and abductor pollicis brevis, significant difference in the muscle activity were found among the unimanual, bimanual symmetric and bimanual reciprocal movement. For the extensor carpi radialis and flexor carpi radialis, the unimanual movement significantly different from the bimanual symmetric and reciprocal movements. Conclusion : Both the thumb and wrist, bimanual symmetric and reciprocal movements were more efficient than the unimanual movement. Moreover, with regard to the thumb, the bimanual reciprocal movement was more efficient than the bimanual symmetric movement.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.119-135
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• 2020

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of bimanual intensive training on Upper Extremity Function and activities of daily living in stroke patients. Methods : The subjects were 18 patients who were diagnosed with hemiplegic stroke. They were randomly assigned to bimanual intensive training group (n=9) and unilateral intensive group (n=9). Bimanual training group performed bimanual task and unilateral training group performed one hand task for 1 hour per session, 5 times a week, for 4 weeks. Chi-square test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and Mann-Whitney U test were used for analysis. Results : The results showed that, upper extremity motor function and bimanual coordination were significantly improved in patients in the bimanual training group (p<.05). Additionally, the ratio of affected hand use and amount of use/quality of movement in the hemiplegic upper extremity in activities of daily living for patients in the bimanual training group were significantly improved (p<.05). Although the unilateral group improved motor upper extremity function and activities of daily living in the upper extremity (p<.05), it was not significantly different from that in the bimanual training group. In between-group comparison, bimanual coordination and ratio of the affected hand use in a day were significantly different (p<.05). Conclusion : It is reasonable to conclude that bimanual intensive training therapy is an effective intervention method to improve upper extremity motor function, and activities of daily living in stroke patients.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.656-662
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• 2008

A cost-function based on manipulability and compatibility is designed to determine assembly motions of two cooperating manipulators. Assembly motions are planned along the direction maximizing performance indices to improve control performance of the two manipulators. This paper proposes bimanual task compatibility by defining cost functions. The proposed cost functions are applied and compared to the bimanual assembly task. The problem is formulated as a constrained optimization considering assembly constraints, position of the workpieces, and kinematics and redundancy of the bimanual robot. The proposed approach is evaluated with simulation of a peg-in-hole assembly with an L-shaped peg and two 3-dof manipulators.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.259-269
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate age-related bimanual coordination functions in older adults. Method: Thirteen studies that compared bimanual coordination functions in older adults with those in healthy young adults qualified for this meta-analysis. We additionally categorized 21 total comparisons from the 13 qualified studies into two types of task-related moderator variables: (1) kinematic versus kinetic movements and (2) symmetry versus asymmetry movements. Results: Random effects model meta-analysis found that older adults revealed significant bimanual coordination impairments as compared with young adults (Hedges's g = -0.771; p < .0001; I² = 74.437%). We additionally confirmed specific bimanual coordination deficits using two moderator variables: 1) kinematic (Hedges's g = -0.884; p < .0001; I² = 0.000%) and kinetic (Hedges's g = -0.666; p = .023; I² = 86.170%). 2) symmetry (Hedges's g = -0.712; p = .001; I² = 74.291%) and asymmetry (Hedges's g = -0.817; p < .0001; I² = 76.322%). The moderator variable analysis indicated older adults indicated bimanual coordination deficits in the upper extremities than healthy young adults while performing kinematic bimanual coordination tasks and asymmetry coordination tasks. Conclusion: These findings suggest that developing motor rehabilitation programs based on asymmetric bimanual movement task for enhancing interlimb coordination functions of older adults may be crucial for increasing their independence in everyday activities. Given that elderly revealed the deficits in lower extremities coordination when older adults perform gait, posture, and balance, future studies should estimate lower limb coordination functions in elderly people.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.121-127
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate potential effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on bimanual force control capabilities in healthy young adults. Method: Eighteen right-handed healthy young adults (10 females and 8 males; age: 23.55 ± 3.56 yrs) participated in this crossover design study. All participants were randomly allocated to both active-tDCS and sham-tDCS conditions, respectively. While receiving 20 min of active- or sham-tDCS interventions, all participants performed bimanual isometric force control tasks at four submaximal targeted force levels (i.e., 5%, 10%, 15, and 20% of maximal voluntary contraction: MVC). To compare bimanual force control capabilities including force accuracy, variability, and regularity between active-tDCS and sham-tDCS conditions, we conducted two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (2 × 4; tDCS condition × Force levels). Results: We found no significant difference in baseline MVC between active-tDCS and sham-tDCS conditions. Moreover, our findings revealed that providing bilateral tDCS including anodal tDCS on left primary motor cortex (M1) and cathodal on right M1 while conducting bimanual force control trials significantly decreased force variability and regularity at 5%MVC. Conclusion: These findings suggest that providing bilateral tDCS on M1 areas may improve bimanual force control capabilities at a relatively low targeted force level.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.972-976
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• 2015

The objective of this research is to verify the quantitative efficiency of a bimanual robotic task. Bimanual robots can realize dexterous and complicated motions using two cooperating arms. However, its motion planning and control method are not simple for implementing flexible tasks such as assembly. In this paper, the proposed motion planning method is used to find an optimal solution satisfying a designed cost function and constraints with regard to the kinematics and redundancy of the bimanual robot. The simulation results show that the lifetime of the manipulator can be changed by the proposed cost function consisting of angular velocity and angular acceleration of each joint in the same assembly task.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2013

Large workspace and strong grasping force are required when a robot manipulates big and/or heavy objects. In that situation, bimanual manipulation is more useful than unimanual manipulation. However, the control of both hands to manipulate an object requires a more complex model compared to unimanual manipulation. Learning by human demonstration is a useful technique for a robot to learn a model. In this paper, we propose an imitation learning method of bimanual object manipulation by human demonstrations. For robust imitation of bimanual object manipulation, movement trajectories of two hands are encoded as a movement trajectory of the object and a force trajectory to grasp the object. The movement trajectory of the object is modeled by using the framework of dynamic movement primitives, which represent demonstrated movements with a set of goal-directed dynamic equations. The force trajectory to grasp an object is also modeled as a dynamic equation with an adjustable force term. These equations have an adjustable force term, where locally weighted regression and multiple linear regression methods are employed, to imitate complex non-linear movements of human demonstrations. In order to show the effectiveness our proposed method, a movement skill of pick-and-place in simulation environment is shown.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.342-349
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to compare the unimanual and bimanual complementary movements of the affected upper extremity. Thirty participants living in Busan area with post-stroke hemiparesis were involved in this study. They were selected according to twelve criteria. We used the Fitmeter accelerometer to measure Signal Vector Magnitude, peak acceleration and peak deceleration. The movement time and Signal Vector Magnitude of bimanual complementary movement were less than those of unimanual movement(p<0.05). Therefore, we suggest that bimanual complementary movement is more useful, as for the kinematic aspect, than unimanual movement when a person with stroke perform activities of daily living.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.35-43
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish novice user guidelines for efficient external laryngeal manipulation for intubation in difficult airway management. Methods: This study included 59 pre-qualified junior and senior emergency medical service students. The participants were instructed at random to intubate a manikin equipped with a cervical collar, thus simulating a difficult airway, using three types of external laryngeal manipulation: bimanual laryngoscopy, backward-rightward pressure, and cricoid pressure. The resultant intubation time and glottic view grade scores were estimated. Results: Intubation time was longest using the bimanual manipulation method, followed by cricoid pressure and backward-rightward pressure. A low Cormack-Lehane glottic view score was obtained regardless of the assisted compression method used. Conclusion: Backward-rightward pressure may be the most efficient method of external laryngeal manipulation on the basis of the intubation time and improvement in glottic view.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.44-52
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different objects and target location of dominant hand on the non-dominant hand movement kinematics in a bimanual reaching task. Fifteen right-handed volunteers were asked to reach from same starting point to the different target point of right and left hand with grasping the objects of different size. Independent variables were 1) three different object types (small mug cup, name pen, and PET bottle), and 2) three different target locations (shorter distance, same distance, and longer distance than the non-dominant hand) of the dominant hand. Dependent variables were movement time (MT), movement distance (MD), movement mean velocity ($MV_{mean}$), and movement peak velocity ($MV_{peak}$) of the non-dominant hand. Repeated measures two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test for differences in the non-dominant hand movement kinematics during bimanual reaching. The results of this study were as follows: 1) MT of the non-dominant hand was increased significantly when traveling with grasping the mug cup and reaching the far target location, and was decreased significantly when traveling with grasping the PET bottle and reaching the near target location of the dominant hand. 2) MD of the non-dominant hand was significantly increased during reaching the far target location, and significantly decreased during reaching the near target location with dominant hand. 3) $MV_{mean}$ of the non-dominant hand was increased significantly when traveling with grasping the PET bottle, and was decreased significantly when traveling with grasping the mug cup of the dominant hand. Therefore, it can be concluded that the changes of the ipsilateral hand movement have influence on coupling of the contralateral hand movement in bimanual reaching.