• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.348-356
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• 2019

This study is was to suggest improvement of assistive device for the elderly according to investigate the satisfaction and the needs of assistive device for elderly. The subjects were 184 beneficiary older adults in long-term health insurance who used home care service in I city and D city. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. With the exception of cognitive assistance grade, subjects were showed from 'normal' to ' satisfied' on a types of assistive device and services related to assistive device. I, II grade subjects needed assistive device for self-care. III, IV and V grade subjects needed assistive device for safety and health maintenance. In the service related assistive device, All subjects needed service on 'periodic follow-up service', 'expert on assistive device' and 'comprehensive evaluation'. This results is significant in that it suggest to needed assistive device in accordance with grade unlike previous studies. Results of this study will expected to utilize as a basic evidence for improvement of assistive device, service related to assistive device for elderly.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2022

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop a sit-to-stand transfer assistive device, and to conduct a feasibility test. Design: A technical note. Methods and results: In this study, we developed a sit-to-stand transfer assistive device for the elderly and the disabled who have difficulty standing up independently from sitting positions. The sit-to-stand transfer assistive device allows the user to transfer the weight from a sitting position to a standing position while shifting the weight forward by grabbing and pulling a support stand. Ten healthy adults participated in the feasibility test of the device. Each participant used the developed sit-to-stand transfer assistive device and investigated supplementation through a brief interview. As a result of the feasibility test, the opinion was that the device could assist the sit-to-stand transfer to some extent. There were opinions that it needed a function to adjust the height of the knee protective plate in the sitting position according to the user's physical characteristics. Because of the inconvenience of operating the lock device for fixing the position and adjusting inclination, there was an opinion that the improvement for a locking device is needed. There were opinions that it would be better to reduce the size of the device due to its inconvenience of portability. Conclusion: In this study, we developed the sit-to-stand transfer assistive device for the elderly and the disabled who have difficulty standing up independently from sitting positions. In addition, it is considered that the upgrade of the device is necessary for the future since there are supplementary opinions on some points.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.11 no.11
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• pp.936-942
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• 2005

Recently the exoskeletal power assistive equipment which is a kind of wearable robot has been widely developed to help the human body motion. For the elderly people and patients, however, some limits exist due to the weight and volume of the equipments. As a feasible solution, a tendon-driven exoskeletal power assistive device fur the lower body, and caster walker are proposed in this research. Since the caster walker carries the heavy items, the weight and volume of the wearable exoskeleton are minimized. The key control is used to generate the joint torque required to assist motions such as sitting, standing and walking. Experiments were performed for several motions and the EMG sensors were used to measure the magnitude of assistance. When the motion of sitting down and standing up was compared with and without wearing the proposed device, the $25\%$ assistance was acquired.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.197-200
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and investigate the feasibility of a sit-to-stand assistive chair using a pneumatic cylinder. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The sit-to-stand assistive chair was developed to assist the sit-to-stand movement by rising up of the chair by a pneumatic cylinder. After the user is seated on the chair, if the pneumatic cylinder pulls the seat plate when standing up, the spring of the pneumatic cylinder, which has been stretched, assists in rising the rear end of the seat plate so that the user can stand conveniently and comfortably. A feasibility test was performed in 10 heathy adults. The electromyographic muscle activation of the trunk and lower extremity muscles was analyzed, which included the erector spinae, rectus abdominis, quadriceps, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius when standing up from sitting using the developed chair and standing up without using the developed chair. Results: As a result, the sit-to-stand assistive chair using a pneumatic cylinder was developed. In the feasibility test, the use of the developed chair had a decrease in rectus abdominis, quadriceps, tibialis anterior activation compared to those who did not use the device in the healthy adults. Conclusions: The sit-to-stand assistive chair using a pneumatic cylinder may be helpful to reduce the activation of the rectus abdominis, quadriceps, tibialis anterior muscles when performing a sit-to-stand movement. Through the results, the efficacy of the sit-to-stand assistive chair can be confirmed. In the future, further studies are warranted to investigate for the safety and efficacy of its use in the elderly population or those who are disabled.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2007

Walking is not only an essential component of the human mobility, but also is a good exercise. Inability to walk freely can reduce an individual's quality of life and independence substantially. Being a relatively low impact activity, walking is particularly good for the elderly and research has shown that regular walking in the elderly reduces the chance of fall-related injuries and mental diseases as well. In spite of the documented benefits of regular walking, it is still difficult to walk without the aid of assistive devices for the frail elderly who have lower extremity problems. Assistive walking devices(AWD), such as crutches, canes, hiking-poles, T-Poles and walkers, are often prescribed to the elderly to make their walking be safe and efficient. Many researchers have demonstrated the effects of AWDs such as reducing lower extremity loading, improved dynamic/gait stability, yet, no study has been done for gait pattern when the elderly gait with AWDs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine whether T-Poles, one of the AWDs, change the elderly gait pattern. Eight community-dwelling female elderly participated in this study. Laboratory kinematics during walking with T-Poles(PW) and with out T-Poles(NPW) was assessed. PW showed significant increase in step width, stride length, gait velocity and decrease in swing time. No significances were found in lower body joint angles but meaningful trend and pattern were found. Maybe the reason was due to the participants. Our participants were healthy enough so that the effect of T-Poles was minimum. PW also showed typical gait phases which are no single support phase during a gait cycle. It indicates that walking with T-Poles may guarantee safe and confident walking to the frail elderly.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.26 no.6_3
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• pp.1315-1323
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• 2023

Rehabilitation assistive devices not only assist the rehabilitation therapy and daily life of the disabled and the elderly, but also assist the labor of their caregivers, so various functions are required to improve their quality of life. In this study, a design method considering its practicality is introduced for an active rehabilitation assistive device that can perform both standing and walking assistance by driving various actuators. For this purpose, the force required to assist standing was calculated using statics with the body segmentation method. Also, the overturning stability of the device was verified for various physical conditions and postures. The actuator in the active rehabilitation assistive device was operated by a patient using a graphical user interface in an embedded computer and a touch panel for easy usage. The detailed design was performed for implementation through the help of 3D-CAD and the finite element analysis, and a prototype was produced. Finally, it was proven that the design goal was satisfied by experimental validation.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.405-411
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• 2022

Korea's long-term care insurance for the elderly, which started in 2008, is a borrowed one from gaeho insurance, which started eight years earlier. Both countries have a policy of welfare equipment benefit systems to support the lives of the elderly who are intellectually and mentally weakened. In this study, we attempted to compare and examine the welfare equipment items in Korea with those in Japan and find out the characteristics of the items in Korea and Japan. In Korea, loitering-detection device, posture changing devices, and incontinence underwears were registered as welfare devices before Japan, and in Japan, automatic urine disposal systems, wheelchair electric assist device, position converters, and lifts for handicapped person were designated as welfare devices before Korea. In addition, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has announced the designation of the excretion prediction support device as a welfare device. If Korea and Japan cooperate to develop welfare equipment items together, it will be of great help in improving the quality of life of the elderly in both countries in a super-aged society.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.591-597
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• 2022

Objective: The sitting and standing are motions that correspond to the previous stage of rehabilitation to go to walking for daily life. The purpose of this study was to measure task times, path length of the center of pressure (COP) and activity on the vastus femoris muscle using surface electromyography (EMG) when standing up and sitting down. Design: One group cross-sectional design Methods: Fifteen elderly subjects (8 male, 7 female) participated. All subjects were tested three times according to four assist levels (non-assist, lower, middle, and maximal assist) using adjusts the length of spring at sit-to-stand and stand to sit on a chair. The task duration, and COP path length were recorded for the balance function on the Nintendo Wii fit board. The activity of the rectus femoris muscle was recorded on both legs using surface EMG. Results: The results showed that the task duration of the sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit were significantly increased compared to without assist (p<.05). The activation of the rectus femoris muscle more significantly decreased compared to without assistance at standing or sitting (p<.05). Conclusions: The assistive chair showed less quadriceps muscle activation during sitting and standing compared to without assistance. We suggest that our assist-standing chair can help with activities of daily living such as standing up and sitting down movements adjusting the spring length for control assist level by safely.

• Journal of rehabilitation welfare engineering & assistive technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.299-303
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• 2014

Demand of moving auxiliary equipment has increased recently to an increase in the elderly population. pedestrian demand is either moving auxiliary equipment are also increasing. regional migration, such as pedestrian and the elderly and patients is a device to support the sharing received walking the weight of inconvenient people. In this paper, by mounting the electric function to the current manual walking, to prepare the electric walking to support the user's walking. the design applies a lightweight folding structure so that it can be moved to a ride at long distances, were fabricated.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.223-234
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• 2016

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate accident cases involving electronic assistive devices, to determine how these accidents can be avoided and to devise preventative instructions for the handicapped who use these devices. Methods : This study was carried out from July 20 to October 3, 2015. A consent-based survey was conducted via mail and mobile phones targeting 700 electronic assistive device users, of which questionnaires from 290 users were collected and used in the analysis. Results : Accidents involving electronic assistive devices were investigated, especially the causes of the accidents and accident prevention education, as well as the status of the electronic assistive devices. The most common accident types were collision and falling, and it was found that the victims of the accidents usually suffered severe injury to their lower limbs. Most users used electronic assistive devices every day but rarely wore a safety belt because of discomfort. There were more incidents of collision and falling for older aged handicapped users, and the injury rate to the lower limbs was highest in handicapped elderly aged 50 years or older. Conclusions : In order to prevent accidents with electronic assistive devices in the future, a or management organizations must prepare specific safety guidelines and manage these accidents.