Abstract
Falling is one of the major public problems to the elderly, resulting in limitations of daily living activities. It can be induced by the functional loss of the balance ability and muscle strength in the elderly. It has been, however, not well investigated to suggest an effective methodology improving the balance ability and muscle strength for the prevention of the falling due to lack of information about the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations responded to the dynamic motions. The aim of the current study is, therefore, to identify the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations responded to the dynamic motions in Anterior-Posterior(AP) and Medial Lateral(ML) directions. For that, a motion capture system with eight infrared cameras, surface electromyogram system and Wii Fit system with a customized variable unstable base were used and kinematic and kinetic data obtained from the systems were analyzed for five healthy male($24.8{\pm}3.3years$, $177.4{\pm}2.0cm$, $73.9{\pm}12.9kg$, $23.5{\pm}4.0kg/m$). The results showed that the characteristics of the balance and muscle activations were differently responded to between the dynamic motions in Anterior-Posterior(AP) and Medial Lateral(ML) directions. These findings may indicate that customized dynamic motions should be applied to the training of the balance ability and muscle strength for the effective prevention of the falling. This study may be meaningful to providing basic information to establish a guideline improving effectively the balance ability and muscle strength.