• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.761-768
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• 2016

Weight bearing is effective during rehabilitation of gait, in the elderly and disabled people. Various training devices using weight bearing function were developed along with treadmill walking; however, no device has been developed in conjunction to walking on the ground. Here, we designed a rail type frame of a gait rehabilitation system for body-weight support (BWS) function, and analyzed its mechanical safety in the static weight bearing condition of a vertical axis. Computational simulations were performed to analyze structure of the driving parts, which are connected with a rail and driving rollers and the lower plate of the BWS. Structural analyses showed the drivers and BWS were safe, when simulated at 135kg weight under static conditions. Thus, this rail type rehabilitation system can be used for gait training of the elderly and disabled.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.30-38
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• 2017

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find out changes in muscle activity and body heat of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles according to the area touching the ground through the areas of different heel heights using electromyography and infrared thermography. Method: This study was carried out for 15 healthy women. After walking for 30 minutes, the body temperature was measured in a standing state in front of the measuring instrument, and the distance between the treadmill and the thermography was about 50M, which may cause an error in measurement. Result: The results of the comparison of changes in muscle activity and body heat showed significant differences all in tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius muscle an lateral gastrocnemius muscle. The changes in body heat of tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius muscles according to the shape of the heel were lower as the area of the heel touching the ground was wider. Conclusion: This study was conducted to find out changes in muscle activity and body heat of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscle depending on the area touching the ground through different heel areas.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.30 no.4 s.247
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• pp.435-441
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• 2006

The anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) is an important stabilizer of knee joint. The ACL injury of knee is common and a serious ACL injury leads to ligament reconstruction surgery. Gait analysis is essential to identify knee condition of patients who display abnormal gait. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and classify knee condition of ACL deficient patients using a nonlinear dynamic method. The nonlinear method focuses on understanding how variations in the gait pattern change over time. The experiments were carried out for 17 subjects(l2 healthy subjects and five subjects with unilateral deficiency) walking on a motorized treadmill for 100 seconds. Three dimensional kinematics of the lower extremity were collected by using four cameras and KWON 3D motion analysis system. The largest Lyapunov exponent calculated from knee joint flexion-extension time series was used to quantify knee stability. The results revealed the difference between healthy subjects and patients. The deficient knee was significantly unstable compared with the contralateral knee. This study suggests an evaluation scheme of the severity of injury and the level of recovery. The proposed Lyapunov exponent can be used in rehabilitation and diagnosis of recoverable patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.454-466
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• 2001

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exercise program on cardiopulmonary functions and shoulder joint functioning in breast cancer patients who under- went radiation therapy after surgery. Method: Subjects in the experimental group(N=12) participated in an exercise program for eight weeks. The Exercise program consisted of shoulder stretching, arm weight training, and walking on treadmill. Maximal oxygen uptake (v2max), maximal running time, shoulder joint range of motion, and shoulder functional assessment were determined before and after the exercise program. Baseline sociodemographic and medical data were compared between experimental group and control group using the Fisher's exact test and Mann- Whitney U test. For effects of the exercise program, repeated measures ANOVA were used. Result: 1) Following the exercise program for eight weeks, both v$\alpha$ max and maximal running time tended to increase in experimental group comparing with the control group. 2) Shoulder abduction, extension and flexion of the operated upper extremity in the experimental group comparing with control significantly increased after the exercise program(p<0.05). 3) Shoulder flexion of the normal upper extremity in the experimental group comparing with control significantly increased after the exercise program(p<0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that the exercise program for breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy after breast surgery can improve shoulder functions and increase cardiopulmonary functions, which are maximal oxygen uptake and maximal running time.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.327-336
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to analyze muscle activities on functional insole with diet effect. Originally, ten healthy female subjects with an average age of 23.2 year(S.D=1.1), weight of 49.7 kg(S.D=4.9), height of 163.2 cm(S.D=3.5) and a shoe size of 237.5 cm(S.D=4.9) were participated in this experiment. Ten healthy females walked on a treadmill(speed=about 4.2 km/h) wearing two different insole types. Muscle activities data was collected using the EMG operating system. The surface EMG signal for tibialis anterior(TA), gastrocnemius(GA), vatus lateralis(VL) and biceps femoris(BF) were acquired at the RMS(10 Hz, 350 Hz) using Noraxon Telemyo DTS system(Noraxon inc, USA). This study processed the data using the Windows SPSS ver.17.0 to get an independent t-test, with the setting, p<.05. Analysis of muscle activity were measured and calculated during walking. The results are as follow: Functional insole wearing were increased muscle activities significantly from Tibialis anterior(TA) during total gait cycle. Normal distribution was demonstrated in total step of stances period. One foot standing position showed decreased muscle activity. Two foot standing position was demonstrated with gastrocnemius and biceps femoris. As a result of the analysis, Functional insole will inerease the diet effect in the use of four muscle groups.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.23 no.2 s.179
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• pp.164-171
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• 2006

Anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) injury of the knee is common and a serious ACL injury leads to ligament reconstruction surgery. Gait analysis is used to identify the result of surgery. The purpose of this study is to numerically evaluate and classify knee condition of patients through the chaos analysis. Experiments were carried out for 13 subjects (8 healthy subjects, 5 ACL deficient patients) walking on a treadmill. Sagittal kinematic data of the right lower extremity were collected by using a 3D motion analysis system. The recorded gait patterns were digitized and then coordinated by KWON3D. The largest Lyapunov exponent from the measured knee angular displacement time series was calculated to quantify local stability. It was found that the Lyapunov exponent becomes larger as the knee condition becomes worse. This study suggested a method of the severity of injury and the level of recovery. The proposed method discerns difference between healthy subjects and patients.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.271-276
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• 2001

In this study, We endeavored to revaluate the effects of different types of clothing and colors on clothing microclimate in the subjects wearing sports wear at sunlight environment. This study was conducted 4 different kinds (cotton 100%) of clothing ensembles, that was W-1(long trousers and shirt of white color), B-1 (long trousers and shirt of black color), W-s (short trousers and shirt white color), B-s (short trousers and shirt black color) and were done in a climate chamber under sunlight ambient temperature ($33.67{\pm}1.8^{\circ}C$, $46.0{\pm}8.5%RH$) by three males subject who are in good healthy. Start a 20-min rest period, 20-min bouts of exercise and final 20-min recovery period were performed. The kinetic load was given for 20 minutes under the condition of 6.0 km/hr walking speed on the treadmill. The results is as followed In case of same type of garment, temperature within clothing which is based on difference of color the white ensemble keeps higher temperature than black one. According to distribution chart of temperature within clothing in case of chest, white one shows higher temperature than black one, in case of back, black one shows higher temperature than white one. Difference of heart rate was so clear and sequence is W-1>B-1>W-s>B-s, so we could find same tendency with temperature within clothing.

• 한국체육학회지인문사회과학편
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.345-356
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the local stability of the lower extremity joints and muscle activation patterns of the lower extremity during walking between falling and non-falling group in the elderly women. Method: Forty women, heel strikers, were recruited for this study. Twenty subjects (age:72.55±5.42yrs; height:154.40±4.26cm; mass:57.40±6.21kg; preference walking speed:0.52±0.17m/s; fall frequency=1.70±1.26 times) had a history falls(fall group) within two years and Twenty subjects (71.90±2..90yrs; height:155.28±4.73cm; mass:56.70±5.241kg; preference walking speed: 0.56±0.13m/s) had no history falls(non-fall group). While they were walking on a instrumented treadmill at their preference speed for a long while, kinematic and EMG signals were obtained using 3-D motion capture and wireless EMG electrodes, respectively. Local stability of the ankle and knee joint were calculated using Lyapunov Exponent (LyE) and muscles activation and their co-contraction index were also quantified. Hypotheses were tested using one-way ANOVA and Mann-Whitey. Spearman rank was also used to determine the correlation coefficients between variables. Level of significance was set at p<.05. Results: Local stability in the knee joint adduction-abduction was significantly greater in fall group than non-fall group(p<.05). Activation of anterior tibials that acts on the foot segment dorsal flexion was greater in non-fall group than fall group(p<.05). CI between gastrocnemius and anterior tibials was found to be significantly different between two groups(p<.05). In addition, there was significant correlation between CI of the leg and LyE of the ankle joint flexion-extention in the fall group(p<.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, muscles that act on the knee joint abduction-adduction as well as gastrocnemius and anterior tibials that act on the ankle joint flexion-extention need to be strengthened to prevent from potential fall during walking.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.115-126
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate plantar foot pressure and static balance according to the type of insole in the elderly. Methods: Thirteen elderly (mean age: $67.08{\pm}2.25years$, mean height: $159.63{\pm}9.64cm$, mean body weight: $61.48{\pm}9.06kg$) who had no previous injury experience in the lower limbs and a normal gait pattern participated in this study. Three models of insoles of the normal, 3D, and triangle types were selected for the test. The Pedar-X system and Pedar-X insoles, 3.3 km/h of walking speed, and a compilation of 20 steps walking stages were used to analyze foot-pressure distribution. Static balance test was conducted using Gaitview AFA-50, and balance (opening eyes, closing eyes) was inspected for 20 s. One-way ANOVA was conducted to test the significance of the results with the three insoles. p-value of less than .05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean foot pressure under the forefoot regions was the lowest with the 3D insole during treadmill walking (p<.05). The mean value under the midfoot was the highest with the 3D insole (left: p<.05, right: p<.01). The mean value under the rearfoot was the lowest with the 3D insole (p<.001). The maximum foot pressure value under the foot regions was the lowest on both sides of the forefoot with the 3D insole. A statistically significant difference was seen only in the left foot (p<.01). The maximum value under the midfoot was the highest with the 3D insole (p<.001). No statistically significant difference was detected on the values under the rearfoot. In the case of vertical ground reaction force (GRF), statistically significant difference was seen only in the left side rearfoot (p<.01). However, static balance values (ENV, REC, RMS, Total Length, Sway velocity, and Length/ENV) did not show significant differences by the type of insole. Conclusion: These results show that functional insoles can decrease plantar pressure and GRF under the forefoot and rearfoot. Moreover, functional insoles can dislodge the overload of the rearfoot and forefoot to the midfoot. However, functional insoles do not affect the static balance in the elderly.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.771-782
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• 2017

This paper describes the development of a wearable robot to assist ankle power for the elderly. Previously developed wearable robots have generally used motors and gears to assist muscle power during walking. However, the combination of motor and reduction gear is heavy and has limitations on the simultaneous control of stiffness and torque due to the friction of the gear reducer unlike human muscles. Therefore, in this study, Mckibben pneumatic muscle, which is lighter, safer, and more powerful than an electric motor with gear, was used to assist ankle joint. Antagonistic actuation using a pair of pneumatic muscles assisted the power of the soleus muscles and tibialis anterior muscles used for the pitching motion of the ankle joint, and the model parameters of the antagonistic actuator were experimentally derived using a muscle test platform. To recognize the wearer's walking intention, foot load and ankle torque were calculated by measuring the pressure and the center of pressure of the foot using force and linear displacement sensors, and the stiffness and the torque of the pneumatic muscle joint were then controlled by the calculated ankle torque and foot load. Finally, the performance of the developed ankle power assistive robot was experimentally verified by measuring EMG signals during walking experiments on a treadmill.