• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
• /
• v.35 no.5
• /
• pp.169-176
• /
• 2014

As body postures on bed affects various sleep related diseases, it is considered as important information when monitoring sleeping in daily life. Though there have already been a few approaches to monitor body postures on bed conventionally, the development for simple and unconstrained methods is still needed to realize the long-term daily monitoring. Focusing on the fact that ballistocardiogram changes depending on the body postures on bed, we developed a novel method to estimate body posturesusing extremely simple, film-type ballistocardiogram sensor which is based on polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF) film. With 10 subjects, we performed two experiments. One was for an estimation test to show that body postures on bed can be estimated by ballistocardiogram, and the other was for a reproducibility test to present the feasibility of ballistocardiogram based body postures monitoring. To estimate body postures on bed, we made an individual template set of body postures by designating one ballistocardiogram (BCG) sample as a template in each postures. Then, we calculated Pearson's correlation coefficients between a sample and each templates and estimated the body posture of the sample by choosing a posture which corresponds to the most significant correlation coefficients. As a result, we estimated body postures on bed with 99.2% accuracy in average and found that the estimation using ballistocardiogram is reproducible.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.102-111
• /
• 2010

This paper presents a design of seat mechanism for multi-postures controllable wheelchair. The possible seat postures are reclining, tilting, standing, which are controlled by four seat mechanisms using four linear actuators. The seat mechanisms designed in this study are reclining, tilting, forward-tilting, and elevation mechanism. Three postures except standing are controlled by corresponding mechanisms, but the standing posture is performed by combination of the reclining and the forward-tilting mechanism. Posture control system is composed of PID controllers and a planner to determine a feasible posture based on a posture transition diagram. Simulation results show that the seat mechanism and its control system are applicable to a multi-postures controllable wheelchair.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.19-24
• /
• 1984

As in dynamic muscular activity, to support one's body may be regarded as the static workload. An examination is made of the relationship between heart rate and oxygen uptake of three male graduate students in static working postures (sitting, squatting and standing). Though it has been believed that there exists a linear relationship between heart rate and oxygen uptake, this thesis shows that both have no relationship in the case of static postures, and that they may depend upon the characteristics of postures rather than the static workload. These results are discussed analytically. The additivity between static body postures and holding up one's hands at his maximum height is tested. Compared with the sum of energy expenditure in balancing one's body and holding up hands, the net rate of energy expenditure in performing them simultaneously is equivalent. In the case of static postures, the importance of the awareness of the characteristics and relevance of the measures is discussed.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 2019

Background: Pes planus, or flat foot, causes lower limb malalignment and foot pain during walking or exercise. Therefore, a highly reliable evaluation method to accurately diagnose flat feet is necessary. This study investigated the intra-and inter-rater reliability of the navicular drop test in different postures. Design: Cross sectional study. Methods: Forty healthy volunteers performed the navicular drop test in three different combinations of non-weight-bearing and weight-bearing postures (standing/standing, sitting/sitting, and sitting/standing). Two examiners alternately performed the measurements five times in each subject, and in each posture. Significant differences in measurements were obtained among the three postures, with the highest navicular drop being observed in the sitting/standing posture. Results: Inter-rater reliability was high in the sitting/standing and sitting/sitting postures. Intra-rater reliability was high in all three postures. In the sitting/sitting and sitting/standing postures, large navicular drop values and high inter- and intra-rater reliability were observed. Conclusion: Therefore, the sitting/standing and sitting/sitting postures are recommended for use in navicular drop tests to diagnose flat feet.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.281-289
• /
• 2012

Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential risk of shoulder muscle at particular working postures in sitting. Background: The cause of shoulder pain needs to be specifically studied in relation with particular shoulder postures to prevent shoulder MSDs in workplace. Method: In this study MVC, fatigue and subjective workload were investigated depending on the change of shoulder posture. An experiment was designed to evaluate the six shoulder muscles at nine shoulder postures including the combination of 30(adduction), 0, 30(abduction) degrees and 60, 90, and 120 degrees of shoulder flexion. Surface electrodes were attached to the middle trapezius, inferior middle trapezius, anterior deltoid, posterior deltoid, serratus anterior and teres major. Thirteen subjects participated in the experiment. Dependent variables were RPE (rating of perceived exertion), MVC(maximum voluntary contraction) and MPF(mean power frequency) shift by EMG (electromyography). Results: The middle trapezius and inferior middle trapezius were not significantly fatigued at all postures. The decline of MPF slope was less than 10% at all postures. The anterior deltoid was significantly fatigued all postures. The decline of MPF slope was more than 10% at all postures. The posterior deltoid was significantly fatigued 30 degrees of adduction and 90 degrees of flexion. And, neutral and 30 degrees of abduction postures were fatigued more than 90 degrees of flexion. The serratus anterior was significantly fatigued except for 30 degrees of adduction and 60 degrees of flexion posture. The teres major was significantly fatigued except for neutral and 60 degrees of flexion, 30 degrees of abduction and 60 degrees of flexion posture. Conclusion: It was found that a certain muscle was fatigued fast at particular posture compared to other muscles, which would mean that a certain shoulder muscle at particular posture could be easily exposed to the risk of musculoskeletal disorders than other muscles. Application: It is expected that the result can be applied to design workplace using shoulder muscles.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.136-144
• /
• 2022

Objective: This study was to identify the effect of pressure biofeedback applied in various postures that allow the application of abdominal drawing-in. Design: A cross sectional study. Methods: The study intended to compare changes in the thickness of abdominal muscles between different postures when abdominal drawing-in was performed using a pressure biofeedback unit in five postures and to compare differences in terms of measures such as the transverse abdominis's preferential activation ratio(PAR). Data measured from 30 healthy individuals were used for data analysis. A paired t-test and repeated measures analysis of variance was performed to compare the thickness of each abdominal muscle. Results: The transverse abdominis's and internal oblique's thickness showed statistically significant differences in all postures when abdominal drawing-in (p<0.05). In the comparison between the postures, statistically significant differences were observed between the positions of hook-lying and wall support standing and between supine and wall support standing and between hook-lying and sitting (p<0.05). In terms of the transverse abdominis's PAR in each posture, statistically significant differences were observed between hook-lying and quadruped, hook-lying and sitting, hook-lying and wall support standing, quadruped and supine, sitting and supine, as well as wall support standing and supine (p<0.05). Conclusions: When abdominal drawing-in using pressure biofeedback unit is performed for stabilization exercises, selecting and applying specific postures according to targeted muscles and the subject's functional ability will help provide a more efficient and accurate intervention.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.100-110
• /
• 1992

For an effective acupuncture treatment, the location of muscles around Sutaeumkyongkun and Suyangmyongkyongkun were researched and they were made contracted. The conclusion is as follows; 1. The contraction of muscles around Sutaeumkyongkun gives appearance of the postures ; free movement of thumb, abduction of extension of wrist, flexion and pronation of elbow, depression and abduction of girdle of superior limb, flexion, internal rotation and horizontal flexion of shoulder joint These postures all together consequently produces the action 'holding something in arms'. 2. The contraction of muscles around Suyangmyongkyongkun gives appearance of the postures; extension of metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joint of index finger extension and abduction of thumb, extension of wrist, extension and supination of elbow, adduction, elevation and upward rotation of girdle of superior limb, extension, abduction, adduction, internal rotation, external rotation, horizontal extension of shoulder joint, flexion and opposite rotation of neck. These postures all together consequently produces the action 'raising arms'.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.223-231
• /
• 2002

Recently, work-related musculoskeletal disorders(WMSDs) have rapidly increased and have been a major issue in the field of industrial safety. Of several physical risk factors for WMSDs, which include postures, vibration, repetitive work, speed or acceleration of movements, etc., awkward postures have been known as one of the major causes of WMSDs. For reducing the potential for injury as a result of postures, cost effective quantification of the magnitude for physical exposure to poor working postures is important and needed. To do this, several postural classification schemes have been developed and used in industrial sites. It is known that perceived discomfort for joint motions and muscle strength for females were much less than those for males. However, the existing postural classification schemes were developed without considering these gender effects. This study aims to develop a new postural classification scheme for female workers, based on the perceived discomfort for joint motions. The result showed that there was significant difference between the schemes for female and male. It was also found that when compared with OWAS, RULA and REBA, postural load was quantified more precisely with the developed scheme. It is recommended that different schemes according to gender of workers involved in work be used in order to accurately evaluate postural load of work postures.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.76-83
• /
• 2004

This study aimed to empirically investigate perceived discomfort depending upon external load, upper limb postures and their holding time. Discomfort was obtained through an experiment, in which external load, wrist flexion/extension, elbow flexion, shoulder flexion and adduction/abduction were used as experimental variables. The subjects were instructed to hold given postures for 60s and to rate their subjective discomfort scores at 5s, 20s, 40s and 60s by using the free modulus method of magnitude estimation. The results showed that while only external load and elbow flexion were statistically significant at the holding time of 5s at ${\alpha}=0.05$ or 0.10, external load and upper limb postures excluding shoulder adduction/abduction significantly affected discomfort ratings at 20s, 40s and 60s at ${\alpha}=0.01$ or 0.05. Discomfort scores were also significantly different between four posture holding times at ${\alpha}=0.01$. The effects of external load and holding time were much larger than those of upper limb postures. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended that external load and holding time as well as working postures betaken into consideration to precisely quantify postural load in industry.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.36-49
• /
• 1998

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the work postures and upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders(CTDs) in female medical insurance bill reviewers(n=448). This study included diagnosis for CTDs, anthropometry and job analysis (workstations and posture). The characteristics of subject were 33.6 years of average age and 8.7 years of average work duration. The results were as fallows. Ergonomic conditions of workstation were unsuitable compared with anthropometry result. The height of work surface(79.5 cm) and chair(43.0 cm)were high. work space was small, and legs space under the table was limited. Work postures were awkward compared with recommended neutral postures. Neck flexion($21.0-36.0^{\circ}$), elbow elevation, shoulder abduction ($46.0-47.0^{\circ}$). wrist radial and ulnar deviation, forearm supination and pronation, and wrist repeated motion(12.7-21.5 freq./min) were analyzed as hazardous risk factors by job analysis. The prevalence of CTDs was 32.8 % by medical diagnosis. The prevalence rate of CTDs in hazardous work posture group was significantly greater than safe work posture group both neck-shoulder (relative prevalence = 5.2, p<0.001) and wrist-hand (relative prevalence = 2.5, p<0.05).