• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.286-292
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• 2009

This paper proposes a knee-wearable robot system for assisting the muscle power of human knee by processing EMG (Electromyogram) signals. Although there are many muscles affecting the knee joint motion, the rectus femoris and biceps femoris among them play a core role in the extension and flexion motion, respectively, of the knee joint. The proposed knee-wearable robot system consists of three parts; the sensor for measuring and processing EMG signals, controller for estimating and applying the required knee torque, and actuator for driving the knee-wearable mechanism. Ultimately, we suggest the motion control method for knee-wearable robot system by processing the EMG signals of corresponding two muscles in this paper. Also, we show the effectiveness of the proposed knee-wearable robot system through the experimental results.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.219-225
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• 2020

With the aging population, the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the elderly continues to increase. In addition, musculoskeletal disorders are the third most common social and economic loss among occupational illnesses in Workers' compensation insurance benefits as of 2015 standard and are also common among workers. In this study, a vest that can assist in the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders of the waist was produced, and it is intended to confirm the presence or absence of the effect through experiments. Diseases of the waist are closely related to core muscles. Therefore, the produced vest was made in a form that supports the core muscles. Before and after wearing the vest for effectiveness verification, the While performing 10-times of the Mackenzie exercises, a waist extension exercise, collected the EMG data of the internal oblique, Rectus abdominis, and Erector spinae, which correspond to the core muscles. The collected data were analyzed through the electromyography analysis program RM-3 to obtain RMS values for 10-times measurements of each muscle and to compare the average values. After comparing the data, to verify the significance, the technical statistical value of the measurement result was calculated and the average difference was verified through PASW ver18.0, And the paired t-test is performed on the experimental results to perform statistical processing. and Statistical processing was performed by setting the significance level to α=.05.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2019

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) causes morphological changes in muscles, reduces muscle strength, endurance and flexibility, negatively affects lumbar stability, and limits functional activity. Plank exercise strengthens core muscles, activates abdominal muscles, and improves intra-abdominal pressure to stabilize the trunk in patients with CLBP. Objects: We investigated the effect of plank exercise on abdominal muscle thickness and disability in patients with CLBP. Methods: We classified 33 subjects into 2 groups: An experimental (n1=17) and a control group (n2=16). Patients in the experimental group participated in plank exercise and those in the control group participated in stretching exercise. Patients in both groups attended 20-minute exercise sessions thrice a week for 4 weeks. Abdominal muscle thickness in each subject was evaluated ultrasonographically, and disabilities were assessed using the Oswestry disability index (ODI). Results: Four weeks later, abdominal muscle thickness showed a significant increase over baseline values in both groups (p<.05). Patients in the experimental group reported a more significant increase in the thickness of the external oblique muscle than that in the control group (p<.05). ODI scores in the experimental group were significantly lower after intervention than before intervention (p<.05). Conclusion: Plank exercise increases the thickness of the external oblique muscle and reduces disability secondary to mild CLBP. Therefore, plank exercise is needed to improve lumbar stability and functional activity in patients with mild CLBP.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.78-85
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• 2024

Objective: This Study aimed to examine the changes in muscle activity of trunk muscles by performing three squat exercises on normal adults. Design: cross-sectional study Methods: Thirty-two adult subjects participated in this study. General squat, overhead squat, and overhead squat combined with abdominal stabilization were randomly performed for 5 seconds, 3 times, to calculate the average muscle activation. Muscle activation was normalized using electrodes on the rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique, and erector spinae muscles to measure maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) for 5 seconds, repeated 3 times each. Results: There was a significant difference in the mean and maximal muscle activity of the bilateral erector spinae (ES) when comparing the squat to the overhead squat (p<0.05). There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the mean and maximal muscle activity of the bilateral external oblique (EO) when comparing the overhead squat to the overhead squat combined with the abdominal stabilization technique. When comparing the squat to the overhead squat with abdominal stabilization, there was a significant difference in the mean and maximum muscle activity of the bilateral RA, EO, and left Internal oblique (IO) (p<0.05), and there was a significant difference in the maximum muscle activity of the bilateral erector spinae (ES) (p<0.05). Post hoc tests showed significant differences between squatting methods for the RA, EO, IO, and ES (p<0.017). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that squats combined with abdominal stabilization were more effective at activating core muscles than squats or overhead squats alone.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1-17
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• 2023

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare how the shoulder height and respiratory function are affected by applying shoulder stabilization exercises and core stabilization exercises that are effective for strengthening the trunk muscles and postural stability for adults with a round shoulder posture (RSP). METHODS: The participants were 28 young adults with RSP. They were assigned randomly to two groups: shoulder stabilization exercise and core stabilization exercise. They performed the exercises for 30 minutes twice a week for four weeks. They measured the shoulder height and respiratory function before and after exercise. RESULTS: No significant difference in shoulder height was found between the groups. A significant decrease in shoulder height was found in the shoulder stabilization exercise group after exercise. The core stabilization exercise group showed a significant decrease after exercise. In respiratory function, no significant difference was found between the groups. The forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁) were increased significantly in the shoulder stabilization exercise group before and after exercise. The FEV₁, FEV₁/FVC, and peak expiratory flow were significantly higher in the shoulder stabilization exercise group after exercise than in the core stabilization exercise group. CONCLUSION: Shoulder stabilization exercise and core stabilization exercise improved the postural alignment and pulmonary function, and the exercises could be helpful in shoulder rehabilitation as well as the clinical part of the treatment of rounded shoulder posture.

• Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.31-34
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review health-care program using the recent robotic horse-riding technology and its clinical effects for chronic low back pain. Research design, data and methodology: Recent clinical articles were determined under three inclusion criteria for in-depth review: 1) article that is published within 1 year, 2) article that includes the detailed explanation of health-care program using robotic horse-riding, 3) the article that deals with chronic low back pain during more than 6 months. Results: As a result, the finally-determined two articles demonstrated the clinical effects of robotic horse-riding statistically on pain intensity, low back muscle strength, spinal alignment, and fear-avoidance belief. Conclusions: After in-depth review, I concluded that health-care program using robotic horse-riding for chronic low back pain needs to be provided at low-intensity (e.g. less than 6km/h horse walking program) in the beginning of health-care for improving their motor control ability, then, at the increased intensity for strengthening core muscles.

• Journal of Korea Multimedia Society
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.759-769
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• 2019

Since a surgery simulation should be able to represent the internal structure of the human body, it is advantageous to adopt volume based techniques rather than polygon based techniques. However, the volume based techniques induce large computation to deform heterogeneous volume datasets such as bones and muscles. In this study, we propose a new method to deform volume data using multi-core CPUs. By improving previous studies, the proposed method minimizes unnecessary propagation operations. Moreover, we propose an efficient task-partitioning method for volume deformation using multi-core CPUs. As a result, we can simulate the deformation of heterogeneous volume data at an interactive speed without special hardware.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.65-76
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to analyse the differences in core stability and muscle balance of the pilates Teaser motion according to the surfaces and skills. Methods : There were 10 subjects in this study with 5 being skilled and 5 that were not skilled. The independent variables were surfaces (high elastic & aluminum) and skills (skilled & unskilled). Dependent variables were core stability and muscle balance. Core stability was measured by Force Platform (9872, Switzerland), 3D Imagery (IBS-2000, EXYMA) was used to understand the muscle balance. In order to do the Teaser movement subjects had to lay flat on their back and then lean forward as much as possible and hold the position for 10 seconds. Afterwards, they would lay back down again. A camera (MHS-PM5K, SONY) was used to make 4 phases (take off, recoil forward, holding, recoil backward) during the teaser exercise to analyze movement. In this study quantitative and qualitative analysis was used. For the statistical analysis, 2X2 ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in movement time, X,Y,Z maximum force, center of pressure and angles according to different phases. 2X3 ANOVA was used to analyze the differences in muscle balance via SPSS 18.0. Results : Soft. Elastic mat had a longer holding time, lower Fx/ Fy/ Fz, shorter Fx trajectory, larger angle and shorter gaps in muscle balance than a hard surface in skilled subjects. This was because the mat can help to recruit and then sustain core fine muscles during holding time in the Teaser movement.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.52-63
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• 1987

Il-primigravidas who visited antenatal clinic and their husbands were taught lamaze childbirth education by the investigator in the third trimester of pregnancy. Lamaze childbirth educational course consisted of six weekly class totaling twelve hours of instruction. A questionnaire was adminstered to subjects for the evaluation of Lamaze educational Program. 21-questions were rated on a Likert-type scale containing five responses and subjects described the advantages, the disadvantage, and the difficulties of lamaze childbirth education course. The results of the study were as follows; 1. The core contents of lamaze childbirth educational Program were Process of labor, anatomy and physiology of the female body, the care of newborn, maternal-infant attachment, breathing patterns to be used at the appropriate stage of labor, techniques for conscious relaxation of muscles during labor and delivery, and exercise to limber and prepare the body for the work of labor and delivery. All couples understood the above core contents very well and there were not significant differences between the understanding scores of wives and those of husbands (p>0.05). 2. 81.8% of couples Practiced breathing pattern to be used at the appropriate stages of labor one or three times a day and 72.7% of couples practiced conscious relaxation of muscles one or three times a day. 3. The contents of Lamaze childbirth educational program were easy for the couples to understand, and the total length, the amounts and the structures of 6-classes were appropriate. 4. Lamaze childbirth educational program was very useful, necessary, interesting, and successful to achieve the couples' objectives. 5. The couples expressed that they had positive attitude and high self-esteem, and reduced their anxiety on the pregnancy and labor.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.309-313
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• 2019

This study examined the response of the EMG of URA, LRA, IO, EO and RFM of various types of abdominal motion (crunch, spine V-up on ball, prone V-up on slide board, prone V-up on TRX, and prone V-up power wheel). The subjects performed anisometric contact of abs during these exercises. Tests have shown that there were no statistically significant differences between EO, URA and LRA between any movements. However, during the inspection of IO, the positive-wawed V-up motion showed significantly greater muscle activity than during the slide movement. Also, EMG activity during crunch was significantly lower than any other five exercises. These results indicate that in the implementation of equilateral absolutism, the equipment-free based exercise gives an impetus similar to equipment-based exercise. Abdominal muscle tissue is considered one of the five components that make up an individual's core. The abdominal muscles also ensure proper functioning of the lumbar spine. Although all abdominal muscles contribute to lumbar stabilization, TA & IO has been shown to perform major stabilizers.