• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.177-193
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• 2004

Several experimental studies showed that the application of small amounts of electric current to bone stimulated osteogenesis at the site of the cathode and suggested that electrical currents promote osseointegration around dental implants. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of direct microcurrent to endosseous titanium implants placed in bone defects. The right and left 2nd, 3rd and 4th mandibular premolars in ten mongrel dogs (15Kg of weight) were extracted. One monthe later, Ti-machined screw type implants(3.8 mm diameter x 8.5 mm length, $AVANA^{(R)}$, Ostem) were placed in surgically created circumferential defect area(width 5mm, depth 4mm). The implants were divided into three groups according to the treatment modalities: Control group- implants without electrical stimulation; Experimental group I- implants with allogenic demineralized freeze dried bone grafting; and Experimental group II-implants allogenic demineralized freeze dried bone grafting and electric stimulation. The animals were sacrificed in the 4th and 8th week after implant placement and un-decalcified specimens were prepared for histological and histometrical evaluation of bone-implant contact ratio (BIC) and bone formation area ratio (BFA) in defect area. Some specimens at 8 weeks after implantation were used for removal torque testing. Histologically, there was connective tissue infiltration in the coronal part of defect area in control and the experimental group I, whereas direct bone contact was found in the experimental group II without connective tissue invasion. Average BIC ratios at 4 weeks of healing were 60.1% in the experimental group II, 47.4% in the experimental group I and 42.7% in the control. Average BIC ratios at 8 weeks after implantation were 67.6% in the experimental group II, 55.9% in the experimental group I and 54.6% in the control. The average BFA ratio was 84.0% in the experimental group II, 71.8% in the experimental group I and 58.8% in the control at 4 weeks, and the BFA ratios were 89.6% in the experimental group II, 81.4% in the experimental group I and 70.5% in the control at 8 weeks after implantation. The experimental group II showed also significantly greater BIC and BFA ratios compared to the control and the experimental group I (p<0.05). The removal torque values at 8 weeks after implantation were 56 Ncm in the experimental group II, 49 Ncm in the experimental group I and 43 Ncm in the control. There was a statistically significant difference among 3 groups (p<0.05). These results suggest that electrical stimulation improve and accelerate bone healing around endosseous titanium implants in bone defect.

• Korean Parent-Child Health Journal
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.35-55
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• 2001

Recently attention has been focused on the effects of early intervention, or its lack, on both normal and preterm infants. Particularly numerous studies suggest that premature infants are not necessarily understimulated but instead are subjected to inappropriate stimulation. Developmental support and sensory stimulation have become clinical opportunities in which nursing practice can impact on the neurobehavioral outcome of premature infants. Developmental care has been widely accepted and implemented in neonatal intensive care units across the country. Increasingly, attention and concern in caring for low-birth-weight infants and premature infants has led clinicians in the field to explore the effects of a complex of interventions designed to create and maintain a developmentally supportive environment; to provide age-appropriate sensory input; and to protect the infant from inappropriate, excessive and stressful stimulation. The components of developmental care include modifications of the macro-environment to reduce NICU light and sound levels, care clustering, nonnutritive sucking, and containment strategies, such as flexed positioning or swaddling. Sensory stimulation of the premature infants is presented to standardize the modification of a developmental intervention based on physiologic and behavioral cues. The most appropriate type of stimuli are those that are sensitive to infant cues. Evaluation of infant physiological and behavioral responds to specific intervention stimuli may help to identify more appropriate interventions based on infants' cues. A critical question confronting the clinician is that of determining when the evidence supporting a change in practice is sufficient to justify making that change. There are acknowledged limitations in the current studies. Many of the studies examined had small sample sizes; used nonprobability sampling; and used a phase lag design, which introduces the possibility of threats to internal validity and limits the generalizability of the results. Although many issues regarding the effects of developmental interventions remain unresolved, the available research base documents significant benefits of developmental care for LBW infants in consistent outcomes, without significant adverse effects. Particularly, although the individual studies vary somewhat in the definition of specific outcomes measured, instrumentation used, time and method of data collection, and preparaion of the care providers, in all studies, infants receiving the full protocol of individualized developmentally supportive care had improvements in some aspect of four areas of infant functioning: level of respiratory or oxygen support, the establishment of oral feeding; length of hospital stay, and infant behavioral regulation. In summary, based on the available literature, individualized developmental intervention should be incorporated into standard practice in neonatal intensive care. And this implementation needs to be coupled with ongoing research to evaluate the impact of an individualized developmental care programs on the short- and long-tenn health outcomes of LBW infants.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.377-388
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• 1990

Ca movements during the late plateau phase in rabbit atrium implicate Na-Ca exchange. In single atrial cells isolated from the rabbit the properties of the inward current of Na-Ca exchange were investigated using the whole cell voltage clamp technique. The inward currents were recorded during repolarization following brief 2 ms depolarizing pulse to +40 mV from a holding potential of -70 mV. Followings are the results obtained: 1) When stimulated every 30 sec, the inward currents were activated and reached peak values $6{\sim}12\;ms$ after the beginning of depolarizing pulse. The mean current amplitude was 342 pA/cell. 2) The current decayed spontaneously from the peak activation and the timecourse of the relaxation showed two different phases: fast and slow phase. 3) The recovery of the inward current was tested by paired pulse of various interval. The peak current recovered exponentialy with a time course similar to that of Ca current recovery. 4) Relaxation timecourse was also affected by pulse interval and time constant was reduced almost linearly according to the decrease of pulse interval between 30 sec and 1 sec. 5) The peak inward current was increased by long prepulse stimulation, Bay K, isoprenaline or c-AMP. 6) The relaxation time constant of the inward current was prolonged by Bay K or c-AMP, and shortened by isoprenaline. From the above results, it could be concluded that increase of the calcium current potentiates and prolongs intracellular calcium transients, while shortening of the timecourse by isoprenaline or short interval stimulations might be due to the facilitation of Ca uptake by SR.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.99-106
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect on plasma beta endorphin concentration level and the influences on pain score of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) mediation to patients During a prostate needle biopsy. Methods: TENS was administered to only the experimental group. The electric current was given in high frequency (40-100 pps) and low intensity ($2-50{\mu}s$) from the waiting room stage until the end of the procedure. The average time spent was 35 minutes. Following 10 minutes of retention in the rectum, there was a biopsy. In two groups, the pain score was assessed twice when vas pain penetrated into the rectum, during the needle biopsy. The Beta endorphin concentration level was assessed through blood gathering 2 times in the Nuclear Medicine Labs before and after the test. Results: There was not much difference in pain levels from both groups when a microscope probe penetrated into the rectum and in the time when tissues were collected. However, the average overall pain level was reduced during those two procedures. The plasma beta endorphin level was increased in the TENS medicated group compared with the unmedicated group after the procedures were completed. Conclusion: The research indicates that TENS was desirable to be considered as a non-invasive method for controlling pain.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.1121-1127
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• 2013

This study deals with experimental studies on electromyogram (EMG) measurements and functional electrical stimulation (FES) for the rehabilitation of a shoulder-joint. Based on the structure, motion, and main functions of the musculoskeletal system in a shoulder-joint, the muscles playing a major role for the motion in the sagittal plane were selected for the experiment. First, the surface electromyogram of the main muscles was measured according to the joint angle. The results showed that the change in the surface EMG was linearly proportional to the change in the joint angle. Second, the joint angle was measured during FES at shoulder muscles. The results showed that the joint angle increased as the FES current increased in a certain range of FES. It was confirmed that the willingness of muscles to move could be detected by measuring EMG and that the generation of muscle tension could be assisted by FES for active rehabilitation.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2006

Background: Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a painful, disabling disorder for which no proven treatment has been established. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the evidence of the efficacy of spinal cord stimulation (SCS) in the management of pain in CRPS patients. Methods: Between March 2004 and June 2006, 11 patients with CRPS were treated with SCS. The visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain (0⁣-10) and pain disability index (PDI) were obtained in all patients prior to treatment, and 1, 3 and 6 months post-implantation. Results: All 11 patients, 5 men and 6 women, with a median age and duration of CRPS of 44 years and 48.8 months, respectively, successfully received a lead implantation for SCS. The mean VAS pain score prior to the treatment was 85.5 out of 100 mm. After SCS implantation, the mean VAS pain scores were 49.5, 57.0 and 56.0 at 1, 3 and 6 months after the procedure, respectively. The mean pain score for allodynia was decreased by 50%, with a significant reduction of the PDI also observed after the treatment. Conclusions: Our current study suggests that SCS implantation is a safe and effective method in the management of CRPS patients.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2007

Objectives : The elicit of DeQi, a composite of sensation including numbness and fullness that develops at the site of acupuncture stimulation, is considered to be clinically essential to establish treatment efficacy. However, there was little studies investigating the relationship between the subjective feeling of acupuncture sensation and acupuncture analgesia, The current study was therefore performed to determine the correlation between the acupuncture sensation scale (ASS) and the degree of acupuncture analgesia. Methods : Ninety-two female subjects were stimulated at LI4 acupoint on non-dominant hand with real (RA) or sham acupuncture (SA). Finger withdrawal latency (FWL) of each group was also measured to evaluate analgesic effect of acupuncture on the noxious heat stimuli on the dominant hand. All subjects were asked to complete seven point-Likert scale ASS developed by Vincent et al. Results : The increase rate of FWL of the RA group was significantly higher than that of the SA group(36.03 ${\pm}$ 4.45% vs 24.50 ${\pm}$ 3.73%). RA stimulation produced significantly higher rating of all the ASS except for dull sensation, compared to SA stimulation. Significant correlations between analgesic effect of RA, but not of SA, and the degree of the ASS, including burning sensation(r=0.349), Intense sensation(r=0.299), pulsating sensation (r=0.335), and stinging sensation (r=0.306) were found. Conclusions : The results of our study indicate that the DeQi sensation are associated with acupuncture analgesia. Our findings suggest that the evocation of DeQi might be useful clinical indicator of acupuncture treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.237-244
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• 1999

Magnesium ion is known to selectively block the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced responses and to have anticonvulsive action, neuroprotective effect and antinociceptive action in the behavioral test. In this study, we investigated the effect of $Mg^{2+}$ on the responses of dorsal horn neurons to cutaneous thermal stimulation and graded electrical stimulation of afferent nerves as well as to excitatory amino acids and also elucidated whether the actions of $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ are additive or antagonistic. $Mg^{2+}$ suppressed the thermal and C-fiber responses of wide dynamic range (WDR) cell without any effect on the A-fiber responses. When $Mg^{2+}$ was directly applied onto the spinal cord, its inhibitory effect was dependent on the concentration of $Mg^{2+}$ and duration of application. The NMDA- and kainate-induced responses of WDR cell were suppressed by $Mg^{2+}$, the NMDA-induced responses being inhibited more strongly. $Ca^{2+}$ also inhibited the NMDA-induced responses current-dependently. Both inhibitory actions of $Mg^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$ were additive, while $Mg^{2+}$ suppressed the EGTA-induced augmentation of WDR cell responses to NMDA and C-fiber stimulation. Magnesium had dual effects on the spontaneous activities of WDR cell. These experimental findings suggest that $Mg^{2+}$ is implicated in the modulation of pain in the rat spinal cord by inhibiting the responses of WDR cell to noxious stimuli more strongly than innocuous stimuli.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2007

The aim of this study is to analyze the correlation between current intensity and amplitude of stimulus artifact on the cochlear implantee, and to find out basic information to check the device failure. Subjects were a prelingual child and 3 postlingual adults with more than severe hearing losses. The charge-balanced biphasic pulses were presented at stimulus rates of 11 pulses per second, each pulse width of $25{\mu}s$ with monopolar mode(MP1+2). Current intensities were delivered at 27.5, 33.7, 41.3, 50.5, 61.9, $75.8{\mu}A$. Stimulus artifacts were recorded by evoked potential system. This procedure was performed just before the initial stimulation, and then, the amplitude of stimulus artifacts were compared with each current intensity. The amplitude of stimulus artifacts was increased significantly according to the current intensity (p<0.01). The results suggest that the change of the amplitude of stimulus artifact can be used as a good cue to check the device failure in the cochlear implantee.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2008

Purpose : This study observed the recovery of function and pain on the eletrostimulation therapy(transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) and micro current therapy(MT)). Methods : Subjects were assigned randomly either experimental group(n=17) who were taken TENS or the control group(n=20) who were taken MT. Also subjects were assessed for pain(Visual Analog Scale; VAS) and function(Oswestry LBP disability index). Results : The VAS has a statistically significant difference with each groups(p<.05), but there was no statistically significant difference with intergroup during treatment period(p>.05). The Oswestry LBP disability index has a statistically significant difference with each groups(p<.05), also there was a statistically significant difference with intergroup during treatment period(p<.05). Conclusion : The efficancy of microcurrent therapy used in this study should be futher investigated in a long period study and objective study outcomes.