• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.336-345
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• 2023

The present study was designed to evaluate changes in neuromuscular properties and the structural and qualitative characteristics of muscles during submaximal isometric contractions at low-to-relatively vigorous target forces and to determine their influence on force steadiness (FS). Thirteen young adult males performed submaximal isometric knee extensions at 10, 20, 50, and 70% of their maximal voluntary isometric contraction using their non-dominant legs. During submaximal contractions, we recorded force, EMG signals from vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL), and rectus femoris (RF), and ultrasound images from the distal RF (dRF). Force and EMG standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) values were used to measure FS and EMG steadiness, respectively. Muscle thickness (MT), pennation angle (PA), echo intensity (EI), and texture features were calculated from ultrasound images to assess the structural and qualitative characteristics of the muscle. FS, neuromuscular properties, and texture features showed significant differences across different force levels. Additionally, there were significant differences in EMG_CV among the quadriceps at the 50% and 70% force levels. The results of correlation analysis revealed that FS had a significant relationship with EMG_CV in VM, VL, and RF, as well as with the texture features of dRF. This study's findings demonstrate that EMG steadiness and texture features are influenced by the magnitude of the target force and are closely related to FS, indicating their potential contribution to force output control.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2024

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact acceleration, shock attenuation and biomechanical variables at various running speed. Method: 20 subjects (height: 176.15 ± 0.63 cm, weight: 70.95 ± 9.77 kg, age: 27.00 ± 4.65 yrs.) participated in this study. The subjects ran at four different speeds (2.5 m/s, 3.0 m/s, 3.5 m/s, 4.0 m/s). Three-dimensional accelerometers were attached to the distal tibia, sternum and head. Gait parameters, biomechanical variables (lower extremity joint angle, moment, power and ground reaction force) and acceleration variables (impact acceleration, shock attenuation) were calculated during the stance phase of the running. Repeated measures ANOVA was used with an alpha level of .05. Results: In gait parameters, decreased stance time, increasing stride length and stride frequency with increasing running speed. And at swing time 2.5 m/s and 4.0 m/s was decreased compared to 3.0 m/s and 3.5 m/s. Biomechanical variables statistically increased with increasing running speed except knee joint ROM, maximum ankle dorsiflexion moment, and maximum hip flexion moment. In acceleration variables as the running speed increased (2.5 m/s to 4.0 m/s), the impact acceleration on the distal tibia increased by more than twice, while the sternum and head increased by approximately 1.1 and 1.2 times, respectively. And shock attenuation (tibia to head) increased as the running speed increased. Conclusion: When running speed increases, the magnitude and increasing rate of sternum and head acceleration are lower compared to the proximal tibia, while shock attenuation increases. This suggests that limiting trunk movement and increasing lower limb movement effectively reduce impact from increased shock. However, to fully understand the body's mechanism for reducing shock, further studies are needed with accelerometers attached to more segments to examine their relationship with kinematic variables.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.253-264
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• 2003

This study aims at finding the structure of spike technique by analysing comparatively the spike action by excellent and by non-excellent players throughout the section from a flying jump to the time of landing for the correct analysis of spike action and tries to help athletes and coaches to execute a scientific training. For the objected person of this study, six of H College athletes three of excellent athletes and three of non-excellent athletes, presently registered as athlete with the Korea Volleyball federation) were chosen, and the factors of analysis were analysed upon performance time of action by section, human body centered displacement, change of articulation angle, speed change of articulation of the upper limbs, uniformity of the articulation of the upper limbs upon impact, etc. The conclusion of this study is as follow: 1. In the time required for taking action, it shows to take $1.067{\pm}0.057$ seconds for the group of excellent athletes and $1.034{\pm}0.033$ seconds for the group of non-excellent athletes. Although there was not big difference between two groups in the performance time of action, it showed that the group of excellent athletes takes longer compared to the group of non-excellent athletes. And it was found by the result of this study that the group of excellent athletes stays longer in the duration of flight. 2. In the displacements of horizontal movement and vertical movement, it was found that the group of excellent athletes have moved more than the group of non-excellent athletes in the horizontal movement of the center of human body 3. In the angles of wrist and knee, it was found that the excellent athletes have shown little than the non-excellent athletes in the entire sections, but that in the angle of elbow, the non-excellent athletes have shown bigger than the excellent athletes.. 4. In the speed of the articulation of the upper limbs upon impact, it was found that the group of excellent athletes have shown bigger than the group of non-excellent athletes, and that in the maximum value of the articulation of the upper limbs, the maximum value for the hand was indicated upon impact and that forearm and upper arm have shown the maximum value just before the impact. 5. In the uniformity of articulation of the upper limbs at the time of impact, the group of excellent athletes showed bigger than the group of non-excellent athletes in all the articulations.

• Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting the treatment results of medial meniscus posterior horn tear. Materials and Methods: Forty seven patients who had been performed the arthroscopic surgery for medial meniscus posterior horn tear were enrolled in this study. We analyzed the clinical outcomes with Lysholm score and Tegner activity score in accordance with the factors such as patients' age, tibiofemoral angle, uptake in bone scintigraphy, surgical methods and patterns of meniscal tears, respectively. Results: The patients' age didn't affect to the results, but the preoperative tibiofemoral angle over valgus $4^{\circ}$ and the preoperative normal uptake in scintigraphic assessment showed a positive influence on the clinical outcomes. The partial meniscectomy and repair in surgical methods had no statistically significance. In addition, the pattern of meniscal tear did not have an effect on the clinical results. Conclusion: We can conclude that many factors should be considered to get satisfactory results. Among them, preoperative bone scintigraphy may be a good assessment factor for the postoperative prognosis, reflecting the condition of meniscal tear and the periarticular bone and soft tissue.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.99-107
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to provide fundamental data in training to improve athletes' competitiveness through the comparative analysis of kinematic variables according to the types of stance. For this study, the subjects selected 4 Junior Weight lifters. Subjects performed two type(8-type and 11-type) Dead-lift and their performance was sampled at 60frame/sec. using four high-speed digital video cameras. After digitizing images from four cameras, the two-dimensional coordinates were used to produce three-dimensional coordinates of the 15 body segments(20 joint makers and 2 bar makers). And the results were as follows. 1. As for the time required for stances, 8-type motion was faster than 11-type motion. 2. As for the body-center shift in stances, 8-type motion was bigger than 11-type motion in back and forth motion shift, and 11-type motion was bigger than 8-type motion in right and left, up and down motion shift. 3. As for the speed of a body-center and a babel, 8-type motion was faster than 11-type motion. 4. As for the motion-trace of a babel in stances, 8-type motion was bigger than 11-type in back and forth, right and left motion and 11-type motion was bigger than 8-type in up and down motion. 5. As for the body-angles in stances, 8-type motion was bigger than 11-type in the stance angle, and 11-type motion is bigger than 8-type in the angles of a coxa, a knee and an ankle. As a result of the comparative analysis between 8-type and 11-type stance of Junior Weight lifters dead-lift, both were generally similar in variables, but 8-type motion was more stable than 11-type in aspects of time, speed, center shift, angle change.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.63-70
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Qihyul-therapy was effective against subjects of bad Qihyul circulation who had narrowed muscles of the buttocks, a distorted body shape, or pain. Methods: Qihyul-therapy used. Results: The muscles of the buttocks remained almost untouched. The elasticity of the muscles restored. The skin tone brightened, and the anal muscle strengthened after Qihyul-therapy. The subject's body was shifted to the right by -7°. The right arm was about 6 cm longer than the left arm. But after correction, the right arm was about 5 cm shorter. The distorted body was almost balanced. After neck and shoulder correction, the distance between the collarbone and neck was 7~10 cm wider. After the pelvic correction, the pain in the buttocks was relieved, and the position of the hip joint returned correctly. The right leg that was turned 45° to the left was corrected, and the length became the same. Subjects had no knees attached, their right knees were up 5 cm above the left, and their ankles bent at an angle of 30 ° relative to the left, but after correction, the knees of the two legs stably attached. The height of the knee became the normal angle. Conclusion: If the Qihyul-therapy, the spine correction Qihyul-exercise and the pelvic correction Qihyul-exercise performed steadily, the deformed body shape restored adequately, and it is useful to prevent and cure related diseases by alleviating the pains.

• 한국체육학회지인문사회과학편
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.749-757
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of stability on one leg standing posture in yoga practice. Thirteen women college student who have never done yoga participated in this study. In order to collect data before and after yoga practicing for two years, we were used 3D motion capture system and electromyography. The results were as follows. First, ranges of motions for Y axis of left knee joint and X axis of right ankle joint were significantly different in dancer posture(p<.05), and then X axis of right ankle and Y axis of left ankle joint were significantly different in tree posture of pre and post training. Second, the planar alignment angle of trunk-pelvis was not significant difference in dancer and tree posture. Third, CoM-distances of Y, Z directions were significant difference in the tree posture(p<.05). Fourth, Muscle activities of both rectus abdominis, erector spinae and left quadriceps were significant difference in tree posture(p<.05). These findings suggested that yoga training played important roles in stable postures as results of decreasing rotation ankle joint and movement of CoM and enforcing core muscles. This study provides evidence for effectiveness of the stability on standing posture and can get a great effect on posture correction by means of yoga training. Hereafter, study on alignment angle, which is a measurement of postural stabilization will be needed by future yoga training.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.69-80
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• 1998

This research was designed to investigate how the exercise program affects paraplegic standing and walking employing functional electrical stimulation(FES). Emphasis was also given to fatigue of major lower extremity muscles induced by different types of electrical stimulation. We applied continuous and intermittent rectangular pulse trains to quadriceps of 10 normal subjects and 4 complete paraplegic patients. The frequencies were 20Hz and 80Hz, and the knee angle was fixed at 90$^{\circ}$and 150$^{\circ}$to investigate how muscle fatigue is related to muscle length. The knee extensor torque was measured and monitored. We have been training quadriceps and gastrocnemius of a male paraplegic patient by means of electrical stimulation for the past two year. FES standing was initiated when the knee extensors became strong enough to support the body weight, and then the patient started FES walking utilizing parallel bars and a walker. We used an 8-channel constant-voltage stimulator and surface electrodes. The experimental results indicated that paralyzed muscles fatigued rapidly around the optimal length contrary to normal muscles and confirmed that low frequency and intermittent stimulation delayed fatigue. Our exercise program increased muscle force by approximately 10 folds and decreased the fatigue index to half of the initial value. In addition, the exercise enabled the patient to voluntarily lift each leg up to 10cm, which was of great help to the swing phase of FES walking. Both muscle force and resistance to fatigue were significantly enhanced right after the exercise was applied every day instead of 6 days a week. Up to date, the patient can walk for more than two and half minutes at 10m/min while controlling the on/off time of the stimulator by pushing the toggle switch attached to the walker handle.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.427-434
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• 2019

Purpose: This study evaluated the long term clinical and radiographic results and the survival rates of unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA). In addition, the factors affecting the survival of the procedure were analyzed and the survival curve was compared according to the affecting factors. Materials and Methods: Ninety-nine cases of UKA performed between December 1982 and January 1996 were involved: 10 cases with Modular II, 44 cases with Microloc, and 45 cases with Allegretto prostheses. The mean follow-up period was 16.5 years. Clinically, the hospital for special surgery (HSS) scoring system and the range of motion (ROM) were evaluated. Radiographically, the femorotibial angle (FTA) was measured. The survival rate was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression analysis was used to identify the factors affecting the survival according to age, sex, body mass index, preoperative diagnosis, and type of implant. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared according to the factors affecting the survival of UKA. Results: The overall average HSS score and ROM was 57.7 and 134.3° preoperatively, 92.7 and 138.4° at 1 year postoperatively, and 79.1 and 138.4° at the last follow-up (p<0.001, respectively). The overall average FTA was varus 0.8° preoperatively, valgus 4.1° at postoperative 2 weeks, and valgus 3.0° at the last follow-up. The overall 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-year survival rates were 91.8%, 82.9%, 71.0%, and 67.0%, respectively. The factors affecting the survival were the age and type of implant. The risk of the failure decreased with age (hazard ratio=0.933). The Microloc group was more hazardous than the other prostheses (hazard ratio=0.202, 0.430, respectively). The survival curve in the patients below 60 years of age was significantly lower than those of the patients over 60 years of age (p=0.003); the survival curve of the Microloc group was lower compared to the Modular II and Allegretto groups (p=0.025). Conclusion: The long-term clinical and radiographic results and survival of UKA using old fixed bearing prostheses were satisfactory. The selection of appropriate patient and prosthesis will be important for the long term survival of the UKA procedure.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.29-44
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to reveal the effects of two different kicks, the drop kick and the punt kick, into the kicking motion, through the kinetic comparative analysis of the kicking motion, which is conducted when one kicks a soccer goal. To grasp kinetic changing factors, which is performed by individual's each body segment, I connected kicking motions, which were analyzed by a two dimension co-ordination, into the personal computer to concrete the digits of it and smoothed by 10Hz. Using the smoothed data, I found a needed kinematical data by inputting an analytical program into the computer. The result of comparative analysis of two kicking motions can be summarized as below. 1. There was not a big difference between the time of the loading phase and the time of the swing phase, which can affect the exact impact and the angle of balls aviation direction. 2. The two kicks were not affected the timing and the velocity of the kicking leg's segment. 3. In the goal kick motion, the maximum velocity timing of the kicking leg's lower segment showed the following orders: the thigh(-0.06sec), the lower leg(-0.05sec), the foot(-0.018sec) in the drop kick, and the thigh(-0.06sec), the lower leg(-0.05sec), the foot(-0.015sec) in the punt kick. It showed that whipping motion increases the velocity of the foot at the time of impact. 4. At the time of impact, there was not a significant difference in the supporting leg's knee and ankle. When one does the punt kick, the subject spreads out his hip joint more at the time of impact. 5. When the impact performed, kicking leg's every segment was similar. Because the height of the ball is higher in the punt kick than in the drop kick, the subject has to stretch the knees more when he kicks a ball, so there is a significant affect on the angle and the distance of the ball's flying. 6. When one performs the drop kick, the stride is 0.02m shorter than the punt kick, and the ratio of height of the drop kick is 0.05 smaller than the punt kick. This difference greatly affects the center of the ball, the supporting leg's location, and the location of the center of gravity with the center of the ball at the time of impact. 7. Right before the moment of the impact, the center of gravity was located from the center of the ball, the height of the drop kick was 0.67m ratio of height was 0.37, and the height of the punt kick was 0.65m ratio of height was 0.36. The drop kick was located more to the back 0.21m ratio of height was 0.12, the punt kick was located more to the back 0.28m ratio of height was 0.16. 8. There was not a significant difference in the absolute angle of incidence and the maximum distance, but the absolute velocity of incidence showed a significant difference. This difference is caused from that whether players have the time to perform of not; the drop kick is used when the players have time to perform, and punt kick is used when the players launch a shifting attack. 9. The surface reaction force of the supporting leg had some relation with the approaching angle. Vertical reaction force (Fz) showed some differences in the two movements(p<0.05). The maximum force of the right and left surface reaction force (Fx) didn't have much differences (p<0.05), but it showed the tendency that the maximum force occurs before the peak force of the front and back surface (Fy) occurs.