• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.511-516
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• 2018

This study examined the effectiveness of a short thumb splint and a glove type splint which combined features of a fitness glove in order to improve hand function and performance of functional task after traumatic brain injury. One subject with traumatic brain injury participated in this study and wore a short thumb splint and customized glove type splint. His hand function was significantly improved when comparing to that of not using those splints. In addition, using the glove type splint was more significant to perform functional tasks than using the short thumb splint. The findings of this study identified that hand function of people with traumatic brain injury was improved by using those splints as an occupational therapy service and it is necessary to adapt the customized splints according to the personal characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2017

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the activity of the abductor hallucis (AbdH) muscle during short foot exercise (SFE) using foot orthosis (SFE-FO) and the windlass effect (SFO-WE) while sitting and in a one-leg standing position. METHODS: We recruited fourteen subjects with normal feet for this study. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to measure the muscle activity of the AbdH muscle during SFE, SFE-FO, and SFE-WE while sitting and in a one-leg standing position. Three trials consisting of a 5 s hold for each of the three exercises were performed to measure the EMG activity of the AbdH muscle. Exercise type and position were randomly assigned. Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of exercise type (SFE vs. SFE-FO vs. SFE-WE) and position (sitting vs. one-leg standing position) on AbdH muscle activity. A statistical significance was set at ${\alpha}=.05$. RESULTS: The EMG activity of AbdH muscle in the SFE-WE exercise was significantly greater than that during SFE and SFE-FO in both exercise positions (p<.001). In addition, the EMG activity of the AbdH muscle in the one-leg standing position was significantly higher than that while sitting (p<.001) during all three exercises. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that SFE-WE is a more effective strengthening exercise than SFE or SFE-FO for activating the AbdH muscle.