• PNF and Movement
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-41
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• 2024

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to compare lower extremity muscle activities and ankle joint angles between different foot strike patterns (forefoot strike, heelfoot strike) during stair ascent walking. Methods: The subjects of this study were 22 males who walked in each foot strike pattern on ascent stairs at a speed of 85 beats/min. During stair walking with the two types of foot strike patterns, the muscle activities of the rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, hamstring, and gluteus medius were measured. Additionally, ankle joint angles for inversion, eversion, dorsi flexion, and plantar flexion were recorded. Each participant underwent the experiment three times, with the foot strike pattern randomized. Results were averaged according to the foot strike pattern. Results: Significant differences in ankle angles were observed across all phases according to foot strike pattern. Muscle activities in the lower extremities showed significant differences in all phases except the swing 1 phase. Moreover, differences in foot movement trajectory were noted depending on the foot strike pattern. Conclusion: Walking on ascent stairs elicited differences in lower extremity muscle activities and ankle joint angles based on foot strike pattern. These findings can serve as foundational data for selecting a suitable foot strike pattern tailored to individual patient conditions when training patients in walking on ascent stairs.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2006.10c
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• pp.193-195
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• 2006

In this study, we developed an active controlled ankle-foot orthosis(AAFO) which can control the dorsiflexion/plantarflexion of the ankle joint during gait to prevent foot drop and toe drag for paralysis patients. To prevent dropping foot after heel strike, ankle joint was actively controlled to minimize forefoot collision with the ground. It was also controlled to provide toe clearance and to help push-off during late stance. The 3D gait analysis was performed on two healthy subjects equipped with the developed AAFO to compare with the normal gait and the conventional AFO gait. In the developed AAFO gait, differently from the conventional AFO gait, significant push-off was observed during pre-swing and the maximum flexion moment during pre-swing phase was similar to that of normal gait. A remarkable dorsiflexion also occurred during initial swing. These results indicated that the developed AAFO could have certain clinical benefits to prevent foot drop for paralysis patients, compared to conventional AFOs.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.173-183
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation coefficients between anthropometric parameters of the foot and kinetic variables during running. Method: This study was conducted on 21 healthy young adults (age: $24.8{\pm}2.1yes$, height: $177.2{\pm}5.8cm$, body mass: $73.3{\pm}7.3kg$, foot length: $256.5{\pm}12.3mm$) with normal foot type and heel strike running. To measure the anthropometric parameters, radiographs were taken on the frontal and sagittal planes, and determined the length and width of each segment and the navicular height. Barefoot running was performed at a preferred velocity ($3.0{\pm}0.2m/s$) and a fixed velocity (4.0 m/s) on treadmill (Bertec, USA) in order to measure the kinetic variables. The vertical impact peak force, the vertical active peak force, the braking peak force, the propulsion peak force, the vertical force at mid-stance (vertical ground reaction when the foot is fully landed in mid-stance or at the point where the weight was uniformly distributed on the foot) and the impact loading rate were calculated. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to investigate the relationship between anthropometric variables and kinetical variables. The significance level was set to ${\alpha}=.05$. Results: At the preferred velocity running, the runner with longer forefoot had lower active force (r=-.448, p=.041) than the runner with short forefoot. At the fixed velocity, as the navicular height increases, the vertical force at full landing moment increases (r= .671, p= .001) and as the rearfoot length increases, the impact loading rate decreases (r=- .469, p= .032). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant difference in the length of fore-foot and rearfoot, and navicular height. Therefore it was conclude that anthropometric properties need to be considered in the foot study. It was expected that the relationship between anthropometric parameters and kinetical variables of foot during running can be used as scientific criteria and data in various fields including performance, injury and equipment development.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.99-118
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• 2004

The aim of this study is to evaluate tennis shoes's plantar pressure distribution in tennis prayers and to determine the influence of the shoe on various tennis movements. When investigating the biomechanics of movement in tennis, one of the first things to do is to understand the movement patterns of the sport, specifically how these patterns relate to different tennis shoes. Once these patterns are understood, footwear company can design tennis shoes that match the individual needs of tennis players. Plantar pressure measurement is widely employed to study foot function, the mechanical pathogenesis for foot disease and as a diagnostic and outcome measurement tool for many performance. Measurements were taken of plantar pressure distribution across the foot and using F-Scan(Tekscan Inc.) systems respectively. The F-Scan system for dynamic in-shoe foot pressure measurements has enabled us to assess quantitatively the efficacy of different types of footwear in reducing foot pressures. The Tekscan F-Scan system consists of a flexible, 0.18mm thick sole-shape having 1260 pressure sensors, the sensor insole was trimmed to fit the subjects' right, left shoes. For this study 4 university male, high level tennis players were instructed to hit alternated forehand stroke, backhand stroke, forehand volley, backhand volley, smash, service movement in 4 different tennis shoes. 1. When impact in tennis movement, peak pressure distribution of landing foot displayed D>C>B>A, A displayed the best low pressure distribution. A style's tennis shoes will suggest prayer with high impact. If prayer with high impact feeling during pray in tennis wear A style, it will decrease injury, will have performance improvement. 2. When impact in tennis movement, plantar pattern of pressure distribution in landing foot displayed B>A>C>D in stability performance. During tennis, prayer want to stability movement suggest B style tennis shoes when tennis movement impact keep stability of human body. B style tennis shoes give performance improvement 3. When impact in tennis movement, plantar pattern of center of force(C.O.F.)trajectory in landing foot analyzed this : 1) When stroke movement and volley movement in tennis, prayer better to rearfoot movement. 2) when service movement, prayer midfoot strike movement. 3) when smash movement, prayer have forefoot strike movement.