• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.152-162
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• 2024

Objective: This study was conducted to analyze the effect of wearable Electromyography-controlled functional electrical stimulation (EMG-controlled FES) System on Gait Function and cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency during walking in older adults. Design: Cross-section study Methods: Total 22 older adult participants suitable to selection criteria of this study participated in this study. The EMG-controlled FES System, which functions as a wearable physical activity assist FES system was used. All participations performed randomly assigned two conditions (Non-FES assist [NFA], FES assist [FA]) of walking. In all conditions, spatio-temporal parameters and kinematics and kinetics parameters during walking was collected via 3D motion capture system and 6 minutes walking test (6MWT) and metabolic cost during walking and stairs climbing was collected via a portable metabolic device (COSMED K5, COSMED Srl, Roma, Italy). Results: In Spatio-temporal parameters aspects, The EMG-controlled FES system significantly improved gait functions measurements of older adults with sarcopenia at walking in comparison to the NFA condition (P<0.05). Hip, knee and ankle joint range of motion increased at walking in FA condition compared to the NFA condition (P<0.05). In the FA condition, moment and ground reaction force was changed like normal gait during walking of older adults in comparison to the NFA condition (P<0.05). The EMG-controlled FES system significantly reduced net cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost, net energy expenditure measurement at stairs climbing (P<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that EMG-controlled FES is a potentially useful gait-assist system for improving gait function by making joint range of motion and moment properly.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.29-40
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• 1971

Oxygen consumption, pulmonary ventilation, heart rate, and breathing frequency were measured on 8 men walking on a treadmill carrying load of 9 kg on hand, back, or head. Besides measurements were made on subjects carrying loads of 2.6 kg each on both feet. The speed of level walking was 4, 5, and 5.5km/hr and a fixed speed off km/hr with grades of 0, 3, 6, and 9%. Comparisons were made between free walking without load and walking with various types of loads. The following results were obtained. 1. In level or uphill walking the changes in oxygen consumption, pulmonary ventilation, breathing frequency and heart rate were smallest in back load walking, and largest in hand load walking. The method of back load was most efficient and hand load was the least efficient. The energy cost in head load walking was smaller than that of in hand load walking. It was assumed that foot load costed more energy than hand load. 2. In level walking the measured parameters increased abruptly at the speed of 5.5 km/hr. Oxygen consumption in a free walking at 4 km/hr was 11.4ml/kg b.wt., and 13.1 ml/kg b.wt. 5.5 km/hr, and in a hand load walking at 4 km/hr was 13.9, and 18.8 ml/kg b. wt. at 5.5 km/hr. 3. In uphill walking oxygen consumption and other parameters increased abruptly at the grade of 6%. Oxygen consumption at 4 km/hr and 0% grade was 11.4 ml/kg b. wt., 13.6 at 6% grade, and 16.21/kg b. wt. at 9% grade in a free walking. In back load walking oxygen consumption at 4km/hr and 0% grade was 12.3 ml/kg b.wt.,14.9 at 6% grade, and 18.7 ml/kg b.wt. In hand load walking the oxygen consumption was the greatest, namely, 13.9 at 0% grade, 17.9 at 6%, and 20.0 ml/kg b. wt. at 9% grade. 4. Both in level and uphill walking the changes in pulmonary ventilation and heart rate paralleled with oxygen consumption. 5. The changes in heart rate and breathing frequency in hand load were characteristic. Both in level and uphill walk breathing frequency increased to 30 per minute when a load was held on hand and showed a small increase as the exercise became severe. In the other method of load carrying the Peak value of breathing frequency was less than 30 Per minute. Heart rate showed 106 beats/minute even at a speed of 4 km/hr when a load was held on hand, whereas, heart rate was between, 53 and 100 beats/minute in the other types of load carriage. 6. Number of strides per minute in level walking increased as the speed increased. At the speed floater than 5 km/hr number of strides per minute of load carrying walk was greater than that of free walking. In uphill walk number of strides per minute decreased as the grade increased. Number of strides in hand load walk was greatest and back load walk showed the same number of strides as the free walk.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.171.2-171
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• 2001

This paper presents a force control of a arm of walking training robot. The current gait training apparatus in hospital are ineffective for the difficulty in keeping constant unloading level and constraining patients to walk freely. The proposed walking training robot is designed to unload body weight effectively during walking. The walking training robot consists of unloading manipulator and mobile platform. The manipulator driven with a electro-mechanical linear mechanism unloads body weight in various level. The mobile platform is wheel type, which allows to patients unconstrained walking. Unloading system with electro-mechanical linear mechanism has been developed, which has advantages such as low noise level, light weight, low manufacturing cost and low power consumption. A system model for the manipulator ...

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.687-693
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• 2011

Spring-mass models have been widely accepted to explain the basic dynamics of human gait. Researchers found that the leg stiffness increased with gait speed to increase energy efficiency. However, the difference of leg stiffness change with gait speed between the young and the elderly has not been verified yet. In this study, we calculated the lower limb stiffness of the elderly using walking model with an axial spring. Vertical stiffness was defined as the ratio of the vertical force change to the vertical displacement change. Seven young and eight elderly subjects participated to the test. The subjects walked on a 12 meter long, 1 meter wide walkway at four different gait speeds, ranging from their self-selected speed to maximum speed randomly. Kinetic and kinematic data were collected using three force plates and motion capture cameras, respectively. The vertical stiffness of the two groups increased as a function of walking speed. Maximum walking speed of the elderly was slower than that of the young, yet the walking speed correlated well with the optimal stiffness that maximizes propulsion energy in both groups. The results may imply that human may use apparent limb stiffness to optimize energy based on spring-like leg mechanics.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.1247-1252
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• 2005

Though a legged robot has a high terrain adaptability as compared with a wheeled robot, its moving speed is considerably low in general. For attaining a high moving speed with a logged robot, a dynamically stable walking is a promising solution. However, the energy efficiency of a dynamically stable walking is generally lower than the efficiency of a stable gait such as a crawl gait. In this paper, energy consumption of two walking patterns for a trot gait is simulated through modeling a quadruped walking robot named TITAN-VIII.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.78-93
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• 2017

The purposes of this study were to assess energy expenditure of eight walking activities in normal weight and overweight or obese high school students and to evaluate the accuracy of two accelerometers worn on the ankle and waist. Thirty-five (male 17, female 18) healthy high school students participated in this study. They were classified into normal weight (n=21) and overweight or obese (n=14) groups. The subjects completed five treadmill walking activities (TW2.4, TW3.2, TW4.0, TW4.8, TW5.6), followed by three self-selected hallway walking activities (walk as if walking and talking with a friend: HWL, walk as if hurrying across the street at a cross-walk: HWB, walk as fast as you can but do not run: HWF). Energy expenditure and metabolic equivalents (METs) were measured using a portable indirect calorimeter, and predicted energy expenditures and METs were derived from two accelerometers placed on the ankle and waist. Measured energy expenditures per body weight (kg) of eight walking activities were significantly higher in the normal weight group than in the obese group and significantly higher in female than male. The ankle accelerometer overestimated energy expenditures and METs (bias 49.4~105.5%), whereas the waist accelerometer underestimated energy expenditures and METs (bias -30.3~-85.8). Except for HWF (fast) activity, METs of seven activities were moderate intensity based on Compendium METs intensity categories. HWF (fast) activity was vigorous intensity. METs from the ankle accelerometer were vigorous intensity except TW2.4 activity (moderate intensity). METs from the waist accelerometer were low intensity (TW2.4, TW3.2, TW4.0, TW4.8, HWL) and moderate intensity (TW5.6, HWB, HWF). Physical activity guidelines were developed based on measured physical activity level of high school students. Further studies should investigate the effects of body composition in larger subjects.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2003

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the energy expenditure and the physiological response among two groups by percent body fat(group A: 30-35% body fat, B: 35-40% body fat) to walking and running at several equivalent speeds. Subjects in group A and B followed A group(mean$\pm$SD, age; 24.0$\pm$0.4yrs, body fat; 32.3$\pm$0.7) and B group (age; 25.2$\pm$0.7yrs, body fat; 36.7$\pm$0.9). The walking and running protocol consisted of treadmill speeds for five min at each of the following speeds: 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0 km.$hr^{-1}$. The obtained data reveal in group A, the rate of oxygen consumption and energy expenditure was higher during walking compared to running ate treadmill speeds $\geq$ 6.6km.$hr^{-1}$. In group 5, the rate of oxygen consumption and energy expenditure was higher during walking compared to running ate treadmill speeds $\geq$ 6.8km.$hr^{-1}$. Heart rates and respiratory exchange ratio were higher at treadmill speeds $\geq$5.8 in group A and $\geq$5.5 in group B. these findings demonstrated that a difference of percent body fat in obese women have no large effect on energy efficiency of walking, but walking within speeds 6.5~7.0km/hr resulted in rates of energy expenditure that were as high or higher than jogging at the same speeds even though the relative stress was greater during walking.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the smoothness of movement during various walking speeds. Based on the maximum smoothness theory (or the minimum jerk theory), we hypothesized that the walking speed at the maximum smoothness (or minimum normalized jerk) is the same as that at the minimum energy consumption. Eleven university students participated in treadmill walking experiment with 11 different walking speeds (1.11, 1.19, 1.25, 1.33, 1.56, 1.78, 1.9, 2, 211, 233, and 2.47m/sec). Normalized jerk at 15 markers and the center of mass was calculated. Results showed that there existed a quadratic relationship between the normalized jerk of the vertical direction at the center of mass and the walking speed As the walking speed increased, the normalized jerk of all directions at the heel decreased Our hypothesis that the previously published energetically optimal walking speed ($1.25\;{\sim}\;1.4m/s$) is the same as the minimum jerk speed (1.78m/s) did not agree with this result. The minimum normalized jerk at the center of mass occurred at the walking speed of 1.78m/s which was the preferred walking speed by subjects' questionaries. Further studies concerning the energetically optimal walking speed, preferred walking speed, and walk-run transition speed or run-walk transition speed are necessary based on actual energy consumption experiment and various multi-dimensional analysis.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

In this paper, we propose a methodology for classifying types of lower limb disability and their mechanical structure, based on extensive survey of previous developments. We also propose a task-oriented design with human-friendly and energy-efficient assistive system. The result can be used for optimal design of wearable walking-assistive robot considering the type of disability and the content of task.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relevance of the prediction equations derived from the relationship between metabolic energy expenditure and kinetic energy, for different speeds of walking and running over the treadmill. Seven male subjects participated in this study. A tri-axial accelerometer was attached on between the left and right posterior superior iliac spines. Kinetic energy was calculated by the integration of acceleration data and compared with the metabolic energy measured by a gas analyzer. Correlation coefficients were determined to find a relationship between the kinetic energy and the metabolic energy expenditure. Also, the difference between measured and predicted values was used to find the relevance for individual and group equations. Results showed a relatively good correlation between the measured metabolic energy and the calculated kinetic energy. In addition, a dramatic increase in kinetic energy was observed at the transition speed of walking and running (6 km/h). There was no difference in how to predict the kinetic energy expenditure for individual and group even though people have different physical characteristics. This study would be useful to predict metabolic energy expenditures by the regression analysis with acceleration data.