• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.124-133
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• 2010

Objectives: This study was conducted to develop a model describing the interaction between lifestyle, job, and postural factors and parts of the upper extremities in shipyard workers. Methods: A questionnaire survey was given to 2,140 workers at a shipyard in Ulsan City. The questionnaire consisted of questions regarding the subjects' general characteristics, lifestyle, tenure, physical burden, job control, posture and musculoskeletal symptoms. The overall relationship between variables was analyzed by a structural equation model (SEM). Results: The positive rate of upper extremity musculoskeletal symptoms increased in employees who worked longer hours, had severe physical burden, and did not have any control over their job. Work with a more frequent unstable posture and for longer hours was also associated with an increased positive rate of musculoskeletal symptoms. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that unstable posture and physical burden were closely related to the positive rate of musculoskeletal symptoms after controlling for age, smoking, drinking, exercise, tenure, and job control. In SEM analysis, work-related musculoskeletal disease was influenced directly and indirectly by physical and job stress factors, lifestyle, age, and tenure (p < 0.05). The strongest correlations were found between physical factors and work-related musculoskeletal disease. Conclusion: The model in this study provides a better approximation of the complexity of the actual relationship between risk factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Among the variables evaluated in this study, physical factors (work posture) had the strongest association with musculoskeletal disorders.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.293-301
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• 2001

A patient-specific musculoskeletal model, whose parameters can be identified noninvasively, was developed for the automatic generation of patient-specific stimulation pattern in FES. The musculotendon system was modeled as a torque-generator and all the passive systems of the musculotendon working at the same joint were included in the skeletal model. Through this, it became possible that the whole model to be identified by using the experimental joint torque or the joint angle trajectories. The model parameters were grouped as recruitment of muscle fibers, passive skeletal system, static and dynamic musculotendon systems, which were identified later in sequence. The parameters in each group were successfully estimated and the maximum normalized RMS errors in all the estimation process was 8%. The model predictions with estimated parameter values were in a good agreement with the experimental results for the sinusoidal, triangular and sawlike stimulation, where the normalized RMS error was less than 17%, Above results show that the suggested musculoskeletal model and its parameter estimation method is reliable.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1554-1559
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• 2003

This study validated the musculoskeletal model of the human lower extremity by comparative study between calculated muscle parameters through simulation using modified hill-type model and measured them through isokinetic exercise. And the relationship between muscle forces and moments participated in motion was quantified from the results of simulation. For simulation of isokinetic motion, a three-dimensional anatomical knee model was constructed using trials of gait analysis and the EMG-force model was used to determine muscle activation level exciting muscles. The modified Hill-type model was used to calculate individual muscle forces and moments in dynmaic analysis and the results were validated by comparing them of experiments on BIODEX. The results showed that there was a high correlation between calculated torques from simulation and measured them from experiments for isokinetic motion(R=0.97). Therefore we concluded that the simulation by using musculoskeletal model was so useful means to predict and convalesce musculoskeletal-related diseases, and analyze unrealizable experiment such as clash condition.

• Journal of the Korea Computer Graphics Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2023

In this paper, we introduce a method to obtain high-quality results at a low cost for simulating musculoskeletal characters based on data from the reference motion through motion capture on two-legged walking through reinforcement learning. We reset the motion data of the reference motion to allow the character model to perform, and then train the corresponding motion to be learned through reinforcement learning. We combine motion imitation of the reference model with minimal metabolic energy for the muscles to learn to allow the musculoskeletal model to perform two-legged walking in the desired direction. In this way, the musculoskeletal model can learn at a lower cost than conventional manually designed controllers and perform high-quality bipedal walking.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2006

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to research the health belief, perception and need of prevention program for musculoskeletal disease of office workers in a public corporation. Method: We surveyed 339 office workers at a industry based in Ahn Yang, Kyunggi Province, with questionnaires, during the period June 3rd - June 18th, 2004. Result: Forty-four percent of the subjects said they had musculoskeletal symptoms, and 10.9% said they had received medical treatment for musculoskeletal disease in the last year. Factors that affected perception of musculoskeletal disease were appeared to be perceived severity, perceived barrier, cue to action, marital status, regular exercise and age, and they explained 23.2% of perception of musculoskeletal disease. Factors that affected need of prevention program appeared to be perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefit and PC using hours, and they explained 20.8% of need of prevention program. Conclusion: In conclusion, we suggested that in management the prevention of musculoskeletal disease for office workers, it should be considered nursing intervention strategies to reinforce health belief.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-33
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• 2008

Understanding the characteristics of amputee gait is key in developing more advanced prostheses. The aim of this study was to quantitatively analyze a stair-climbing task for transfemoral amputees with a prosthesis and to predict the muscle forces and joint moments at musculoskeletal joints using a dynamic analysis. A three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the lower extremities was constructed from a gait analysis using transformation software for two transfemoral amputees and ten healthy people. The measured ground reaction forces and kinematical data of each joint from the gait analysis were used as input data for an inverse dynamic analysis. Dynamic analyses of an transfemoral amputee climbing stairs were performed using musculoskeletal models. The results showed that the summed muscle forces of the hip extensor of an amputated leg were greater than those of a sound leg. The opposite was true at the hip abductor and knee flexor of an amputated leg. We also found that higher moments at the hip and knee joints of the sound leg were required to overcome the flexion moment caused by the body weight and amputated leg. Dynamic analyses using musculoskeletal models may be a useful means to predict muscle forces and joint moments for specific motion tasks related to rehabilitation therapy.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.53-61
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to examine the path analysis of factors related to musculoskeletal diseases of shipbuilding workers by considering related factors synthetically. The survey was completed by 1,536 shipbuilding workers and except for poor responses, 1,532 were analyzed. The survey consisted of questions about lifestyle, duration of service, physical and mental stress, and musculoskeletal diseases. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS/PC+ (a descriptive statistics program) and with AMOS 4.0 (a statistical program for path modeling) to test whether the hypothesized path model fitted the collected data. The results of the correlation analysis showed that musculoskeletal disease was associated with duration of service (r=-.095), physical stress (r=.077), and mental stress (r=.602). The results of the hypothesized path model satisfied the criteria required in relation to fitting the collected data. Musculoskeletal disease was directly affected by mental stress but not by physical stress, duration of service and life style. Thus, it is suggested that reducing mental stress is a strategy for the prevention for musculoskeletal disease.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.315-325
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• 2022

Background: Firefighters are required to carry self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), which increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. This study assessed the newly recruited firefighters' internal forces and potential musculoskeletal disorders when carrying SCBA. The effects of SCBA strap lengths were also evaluated. Methods: Kinematic parameters of twelve male subjects running in a control condition with no SCBA equipped and three varying-strapped SCBAs were measured using 3D inertial motion capture. Subsequently, motion data and predicted ground reaction force were inputted for subject-specific musculoskeletal modeling to estimate joint and muscle forces. Results: The knee was exposed to the highest internal force when carrying SCBA, followed by the rectus femoris and hip, while the shoulder had the lowest force compared to the no-SCBA condition. Our model also revealed that adjusting SCBA straps length was an efficient strategy to influence the force that occurred at the lumbar spine, hip, and knee regions. Grey relation analysis indicated that the deviation of the center of mass, step length, and knee flexion-extension angle could be used as the predictor of musculoskeletal disorders. Conclusion: The finding suggested that the training of the newly recruits focuses on the coordinated movement of muscle and joints in the lower limb. The strap lengths around 98-105 cm were also recommended. The findings are expected to provide injury interventions to enhance the occupational health and safety of the newly recruited firefighters.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.206-213
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to analyze musculoskeletal injuries in combine harvesting operation using a digital human model. In order to analyze problems in combine harvesting operation, the operations were broken into 5 work processes and then we preformed ergonomic and biomechanical analyses such as RULA test, Comfort Assessment and joint kinetic analysis for the each process. As a result, there was a clear need to change the combine operating environment, as the RULA score ranged from 4 to 7. In addition, we could find two major musculoskeletal injury factors which are the standing posture with upperbody forward tilting and inappropriate location of operating levers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.502-508
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• 2012

An analytical model for a human body is important to predict muscle and joint forces. Because it is difficult to estimate muscle or joint forces from a human body, the objective of this study is the development of a reliable analytical model for a human body to evaluate the lower extremity muscle and joint forces. The musculoskeletal system of the human lower extremity is modeled as a multibody system employing the Hill-type muscle model. Muscle forces are determined to minimize energy consumption, and we assume that motion is constrained in the sagittal plane. Muscle forces are calculated through an equilibrium analysis while rising from a seated position. The musculoskeletal model consists of four segments. Each segment is a rigid body and connected by frictionless revolute joints. Muscles of the lower extremity are simplified to seven muscles with those that are not related to the sagittal plane motion are ignored. Muscles that play a similar role are combined together. The results of the present study are compared with experimental results to validate the lower extremity model and the assumptions of the present study.