• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2014

In this study, we present a method for correcting unbalanced sitting posture alignment to its optimal position, by designing a chair equipped with pressure sensor. With increasement in sedentary work, such as office work or study, people are now spending more time in chair. To accommodate sedentary life styles, many chairs are being designed for a comfortable sitting condition. However, without awareness and efforts for correct sitting posture, it may not be possible to achieve such condition. When the weight is not distributed evenly while sitting, it may cause various diseases such as scoliosis and a herniated disc. Being inspired by such facts, we have progressed basic researches to maintain the correct sitting posture. To demonstrate the proof-of-concept validation, we installed a series of sensors to a chair and then measured the changes in pressure distribution in various postures. The results show that this approach can be potentially helpful for understanding how fundamental problems due to unbalanced sitting posture can be corrected and maintained properly.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.167-179
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• 2018

The prevalence of patients with adult spinal deformity (ASD) has been reported as high as 68%. ASD often leads to significant pain and disability. Recent emphasis has been placed on sagittal plane balance and restoring normal sagittal alignment with regards to the three dimensional deformity of ASD. Optimal sagittal alignment has been known to increase spinal biomechanical efficiency, reduce energy expenditure by maintaining a stable posture with improved load absorption, influence better bony union, and help to decelerate adjacent segment deterioration. Increasingly positive sagittal imbalance has been shown to correlate with poor functional outcome and poor self-image along with poor psychological function. Compensatory mechanisms attempt to maintain sagittal balance through pelvic rotation, alterations in lumbar lordosis as well as knee and ankle flexion at the cost of increased energy expenditure. Restoring normal spinopelvic alignment is paramount to the treatment of complex spinal deformity with sagittal imbalance. Posterior osteotomies including posterior column osteotomies, pedicle subtraction osteotomies, and posterior vertebral column resection, as well anterior column support are well known to improve sagittal alignment. Understanding of whole spinal alignment and dynamics of spinopelvic alignment is essential to restore sagittal balance while minimizing the risk of developing sagittal decompensation after surgical intervention.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of neck stabilization exercise with PNF for neck alignment, neck disability index, and sitting balance in adults with forward-head posture. Methods: Forty participants were randomly assigned to two groups. Patients in the neck stabilization exercise group (NSG, n = 20) and the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation neck pattern exercise group (PNFG, n = 20) were studied 30 minutes a day three times a week for four weeks. Outcomes were measured using cranial vertical angle (CVA), the Korean version of the neck disability index (KNDI), anterior limit of stability (ALOS), and posterior limit of stability (PLOS) before and after the intervention period. Results: There were significant effects in the CVA and the KNDI of both groups pre- and post-intervention. There were significant effects in ALOS and PLOS in the PNFG pre- and post-intervention compared with the NSG. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that PNF with neck exercise could be beneficial to the static balance of adults with forward-head posture.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.95-102
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• 2023

The purpose of this study was to the effects of the Sling Neurac stabilization exercise(SNSE) on pain, cervical lordosis angle(CLA), and cervical gravity line(CGL) in young adults with a forward head posture. The subjects of the study were selected as SNSEG(n=10) and control group(n=10), they were conducted for 70 minutes three times a week for 8 weeks. Study results showed that pain(p<.001), CGLe(p<.01) were significantly decreased and CLA(p<.001) were also significantly increased in the SNSEG. In conclusion, SNSE is effective in improving the proprioceptive sense of the LM group and activating the muscle. Co-activation with the GM group was found to be effective in improving the CLA and CGL. Therefore, reactivation of the deep neck flexors and suboccipital muscles is an important factor in pain control and postural alignment, and is suggested as an effective intervention method to improve forward head posture.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.887-893
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• 2009

In this paper, a mask-panel alignment robot system is considered for IT industry applications. Two kinds of solutions are suggested which are required in constructing a control system for the alignment robot with actuation redundancy. First, the kinematic solution for the 4PPR parallel positioning mechanism is formulated for an arbitrary initial posture, which relates the mask-panel misalignment in the task space and the desired actuator displacements in the joint space. Secondly, in order to increase the stiffness of the control motion and also to avoid the mechanical lock which may happen due to the redundant actuation, a new synchronous control method is proposed which has the merit of coordinating joint control motions while not losing individual joint control performance. In addition, the engineering process to develop a visual alignment robot system is described with the results of experimental setup and GUI software. Finally, the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed alignment system control methodology and how much beneficial it will be in real industrial applications.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 2017

Purpose : Forward head posture is typical neck disorders occur in all people. And this attitude causes a shortening and weakening of the muscles in the body. It also causes excessive extension acts as a reward. This attitude has to change if the pain occurs around the neck and shoulders, and are subjected to unusual stress. Patients with chronic neck pain associated with forward head posture was found to be the more severe the fall of the respiratory, forward head posture poor quality of much breath. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of changes in forward head posture and neutral head posture on respiratory. Method : Forty volunteers were participated in study and divided into two groups [forward head posture group (n=20) and neutral head posture group (n=20)]. We measured cervical alignment with global postural system to find out a forward head posture. Respiratory function was measured with a SPIROVIT SP-1 equipment and we found out a forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1) and FEV1/FVC. A pared t-test was used to determine a statistical significance for the pulmonary function variation and a independent t-test was used to determine a statistical significance in the two groups. Results : In the experimental group, FVC and FEV1 were significantly higher in the artificial neutral head posture than in the forward head posture. In the control group, FVC and FEV1 were significantly higher in the neutral head posture than in the forward head posture. FVC, FEV1, and FEV1/ FVC were significantly higher in the neutral head posture of control group than the artificial neutral head posture of experimental group and higher in the artificial forward head posture of control group than the forward head posture of experimental group. Conclusion : In conclusion, neutral head posture is considered to be an important factor in correct posture and improvement of lung function and continuous study of posture correction program for posture imbalance will be needed.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.459-463
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• 2008

Postural balance of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) reflects the neuromuscular balance. TMJ posture treatment for meridian yinyang balance has been asserted to have an impact upon cervical spine alignment with an episodic good clinical result for refractory torticollis cases. A retrospective study with one-group pretest-posttest design was conducted to review cervical spine imaging data and clinical symptom changes in cervical dystonia cases to explore the effect of TMJ balance treatment. Review of clinical symptoms and cervical spine imaging data including computed tomography and simple x-ray of 9 cervical dystonia cases revealed significant improvement of cervical spine alignment and clinical symptoms. Improvement of cervical spine alignment may be an underlying mechanism of TMJ balance treatment, as a way of balancing the whole-body meridian system.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.41-50
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• 2023

Purpose : The aim of study was to determine the effect of lower trapezius muscle strengthening exercises on the height of rounded shoulder posture and muscle activity in patients with rounded shoulder posture. Methods : Thirty-one subjects with rounded shoulders were selected and assigned, with the use of a random number table, to an experimental group (EG, n=16) that received resistance exercises of the trapezius (lower) muscles or a control group (CG, n=15) that received isometric exercises of the lower trapezius muscles. In the EG, with the subject in a prone position, both arms were abducted at the angles suggested for each posture (145 °, 45 ° abduction), with the hands holding dumbbells to assume a functional posture. The CG performed only isometric exercises without dumbbells in the same conditions. At the start signal, with the thumb raised, the arm was raised to the level of the ear. Both groups were assessed by the height of the rounded shoulder posture (RSP) and muscle activity (EMG). The intervention was performed three times a week. Results : The RSP significantly decreased during the intervention period in both the EG and CG (p<.05), and a significant difference was determined between the RSP of the two groups (p<.05). In the EG, the EMG significantly increased during the intervention period (p<.05), but the CG did not show any significant increase (p>.05). The final EMG was significantly higher in the EG than in the CG (p<.05). Conclusion : Both the EG and CG showed positive improvement in rounded shoulder posture during the intervention period. In particular, lower trapezius resistance exercise appears to reduce shoulder height and positively affects the activity of muscles around the shoulder.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.337-342
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• 2013

PURPOSE: The Unilateral neglect is characterized by difficulty shifting attention to the side of space opposite the brain lesion and frequently reducing use of contralesional extremities. This study was to identify whether the visual deprivation was responsible for head position on unilateral neglect patient after stroke. METHODS: A patient with left middle cerebral artery infarction participated in the study. We assessed neglect using line bisection and star cancellation test. Patient was instructed to maintain correct alignment of trunk and head in a sit position. We evaluated degree of head lateral tilting and rotation. Then, patient was blocked visual input. Also, we evaluated head position in the same way. RESULTS: He scored 3 points in the line bisection test and 9 points star cancellation test. In postural evaluation, he had deviated posture such as lateral head tilting and rotation. After visual cue deprivation, patient showed different head position which was decreased degree of head tilting and rotation. CONCLUSION: For vertical body orientation, it was used multiple sensory references including the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual system. This finding suggested that abnormal posture of neglect patient could be related to the visual input. It has important clinical implications in terms of understanding the neglect.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.141-150
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• 2022

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of non-elastic and elastic tapes on pain, craniovertebral angle, and balance in forward head posture (FHP) patients. METHODS: A total of 44 adults with FHP were randomly assigned to a group that performed a stretching exercise after non-elastic taping (n = 22) and another group that performed the stretching exercise after elastic taping (n = 22), respectively. The stretching exercise was performed five times a week for 30 minutes per session. The visual analogue scale was used to compare neck pain, the craniovertebral angle was measured to compare alignment, and the limit of stability was measured to compare balance. RESULTS: The groups that performed the stretching exercise after both elastic and non-elastic taping showed significant positive changes in pain and the craniovertebral angle of the head in pre- post measurements (p < .05). In the follow-up test for the pain and craniovertebral angle, there was no significant difference from the post-test in the non-elastic group (p > .05), but a significant difference was seen in the elastic group (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Stretching exercises with taping for patients with a FHP are more effective in improving pain and alignment. However, the short-duration tape application did not affect the balancing ability. When the non-elastic tape was used, the effect lasted longer than that of the elastic tape, and pain relief was effective in the case of the elastic tape. Therefore, tape therapy would be more effective if customized according to the patient's condition.