• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.948-956
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a prototype KAFO (Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthosis) powered by two artificial pneumatic muscles during walking. We had previously built powered AFO (Ankle-Foot Orthosis) and KO (Knee Orthosis) and used it effectively in studies on assistance of plantaflexion and knee extension motion. Extending the previous study to a KAFO presented additional challenges related to the assistance of gait motion for rehabilitation training. Five healthy males were performed gait motion on treadmill wearing KAFO equipped with artificial pneumatic muscles to power ankle plantaflexion and knee extension. Subjects walked on treadmill at 1.5 km/h under four conditions without extensive practice: 1) without wearing KAFO, 2) wearing KAFO with artificial muscles turned off, 3) wearing KAFO powered only in plantaflexion under feedforward control, and 4) wearing KAFO powered both in plantaflexion and knee extension under feedforward control. We collected surface electromyography, foot pressure and kinematics of ankle and knee joint. The experimental result showed that a muscular strength of wearing KAFO powered plnatarfexion and knee extension under feedforward control was measured to be lower due to pneumatic assistance and foot pressure of wearing KAFO powered plnatarfexion and knee extension under feedforward control was measured to be greater due to power assistance. In the result of motion analysis, the ankle angle of powered KAFO in terminal stance phase was found a peak value toward plantaflexion and there were difference of maximum knee flexion range among condition 2, 3 and 4 in mid-swing phase. The current orthosis design provided plantaflexion torque of ankle jonit in terminal stance phase and knee extension torque of knee joint in mid-swing phase.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.886-891
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• 2009

One of the important functions of prosthetic foot is the foot inversion-eversion which is so important when walking on uneven surfaces. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of foot eversion angle especially on knee and ankle joint for transtibial amputees by motion analysis. The experimental data were collected from three transtibial amputees and then ten healthy individuals. To simulate walking on side sloping ground, we used custom-made slope (5, 10, 15 degrees). Motion analysis was performed by 3-dimensional motion analyzer for 6 dynamic prosthetic feet. The results showed that knee abduction moments of amputated leg were decreased but those of sound leg were mainly increased as foot eversion angle increased. And ankle abduction moments of sound leg were inconsistent in magnitude and tendency between control and experimental group. Therefore foot eversioncharacteristics should be considered to develop advanced prosthetic foot.

• Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2011

The purpose of this article is to examine correlation between femoral rotational angle and subjective satisfaction of high tibial osteotomy outcome of the range of motion of knee joint. The subjects were 15 patients (6 males, 9 females) with primary osteoarthritis undergoing high tibial osteotomy from June of 2004 to August of 2008. They were CT tested on the knee joint before and after high tibial osteotomy. TEA (Fig. 1) and Akagi's line (Fig. 2) are analyzed as percentages. The Kendall's and Spearman's nonparametric correlation coefficient were used for the statistical tests with 0.5 level of significance. The result reveals that femoral rotational angle correlates with not the range of motion of knee joint but subjective satisfaction of the patients. Therefore, this will enable patients and physicians to have better clinical outcome.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.239-248
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to quantify kinematic and kinetic characteristics of Yin-yang Bo gait according to their motor expertise, one of the Seokmun Ilwol martial art gait patterns. Yin-yang Bo gait pattern shows initial forefoot contact instead of heel contact, and increased time of stance phase time, internal-external rotation of ankle-knee-hip joints and pelvic. It aims to produce and store the more energy through continuous homeostasis of center of gravity (COG) and performance of stretch-shortening cycle. Some of these characteristics also were similar to the gait modification strategies for reducing knee adduction moment such as toe-out progression, medial thrust, internal rotation of hip joint. To identify the characteristics, four factors of expert Yin-yang Bo gait performance group were compared to that of none expert group; 1) angles of COG displacement and rotation 2) distal joint pre-rotation in internal-external rotation of ankle-knee-hip joints and pelvic, 3) invariability pelvic potential and pelvic segment total energy 4) knee abduction moment. Six healthy(three male) subjects participated in the experiment to perform Yin-yang gait pattern. Three-dimensional and force plate data were collected. Kinematic and kinetic data were compared between two groups using t-tests. Results showed that 1) the peak point of COG internal rotation angle was reduced in expert group, 2) kneeexternal and hip joint -internal and pelvic rotation angle peak frames were more near points in expert group.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.839-847
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of ankle flexibility, gender, and Q-angle on the ankle joint injury factors during one leg drop landing. For this study, 16 males(age: 20.19±1.78 years, mass: 69.54±10.12 kg, height: 173.22±4.43 cm) and 16 females(age: 21.05±1.53 years, mass: 61.75±6.97 kg, height: 159.34±4.56 cm) in their 20's majoring in physical education using the right foot as their dominant feet were selected as subjects. First, an independent t-test of joint motion and joint moment according to the experience of ankle injury was conducted to determine the effect of physical characteristics on ankle joint injury during one leg drop landing(α = .05). Second, the variable that showed a significant difference through t-test was set as the dependent variable, and the ankle flexibility, gender difference, and Q-angle were designated as independent variables to use Multiple Linear Regression(α =. 05). As a result of this study, it was found that the group that experienced an ankle joint injury was found to use a landing strategy and technique through adduction of the ankle joint and internal rotation of the knee joint, unlike the group without an injury. It was also confirmed that this movement increases the extension moment of the ankle joint and decreases the extension moment of the hip joint. In particular, it was found that the dorsi flexion flexibility of the ankle affects the ankle and knee landing strategy, and the gender difference affects the ankle extension moment. Therefore, it was confirmed that physical characteristics factors affecting ankle joint injuries during one leg drop landing.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 1999

The quadriceps angle (Q angle) has been used to reflect the quadriceps muscle's force on the patella in the frontal plane. Previous investigations of the Q angle and it's relationship to knee disorders have yield equivocal results. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors related to the Q angle and it's relation to other variables such as leg length, body weight, CTA (calcaneus to tibia angle), TOA (toe out angle), and pelvic width in normal subjects. The participants were 60 students (30 men and 30 women) who had no orthopedic and neurological impairments, aged from 20 to 29 years of age, with an average age of 22.1 years. Prior to participation, each subject was informed of the procedures of the experiment from a researcher and assistant researchers. The equipment used in this study were modified standard goniometer, ruler, marking pen, and Martin apparatus for pelvic width. In order to determine the statistical significance of the experiment, regression analysis, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation were used at the 0.05 level. The results were as follows: 1) It was found that the Q angle of women is greater than that of men's from both knees. 2) There was no significant difference between right and left quadriceps angle. 3) The Q angle decreased as the body weight (leg length) shifted from low to high. 4) It seems that factors related to the Q angle were body weight, CTA, and pelvic width, but there was no significant difference at the 0.05 level.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.41-50
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• 2020

The consequences of wearing high heels can be different according to the heel height, gait speed, shoe design, heel base area, and shoe size. This study aimed to focus on the knee extension and flexion range of motion (ROM) during gait, which were challenged by wearing five different shoe heel types and two different self-selected gait speeds (comfortable and fast) as experimental conditions. Measurement standards of knee extension and flexion ROM were individually calibrated at the time of heel strike, mid-stance, toe-off, and stance phase based on the 2-minute video recordings of each gait condition. Seven healthy young women (20.7 ± 0.8 years) participated and they were asked to walk on a treadmill wearing the five given shoes at a self-selected comfortable speed (average of 2.4 ± 0.3 km/h) and a fast speed (average of 5.1 ± 0.2 km/h) in a random order. All of the shoes were in size 23.5 cm. Three of the given shoes were 9.0 cm in height, the other two were flat shoes and sneakers. A motion capture software (Kinovea 0.8.27) was used to measure the kinematic data; changes in the knee angles during each gait. During fast speed gait, the knee extension angles at heel strike and mid-stance were significantly decreased in all of the 3 high heels (p<0.05). The results revealed that fast gait speed causes knee flexion angle to significantly increase at toe-off in all five types of shoes. However, there was a significant difference in both the knee flexion and extension angles when the gait in stiletto heels and flat shoes were compared in fast gait condition (p<0.05). This showed that walking fast in high heels leads to abnormal knee ROM and thus can cause damages to the knee joints. The findings in this preliminary study can be a basis for future studies on the kinematic changes in the lower extremity during gait and for the analysis of causes and preventive methods for musculoskeletal injuries related to wearing high heels.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.61-71
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to compare kinematic characteristics on the limbs at 3 different walking speed during the energy and the normal walking. Eight subjects performed energy walking and normal walking at the slow speed(65 beats/min), the normal speed(115beats/min), the fast speed(160 beats/min). The 3-d angle was calculated by vector projected with least squares solution with three-dimensional cinematography(Motion Analysis corporation). The range of motion was calculated on the trunk, shoulder, elbow, hip, knee joint. The results showed that stride length was no difference of the two walking pattern. The duration of support phase was also no difference of the two walking pattern. The range of motion of shoulder joint significantly increased in the sagittal and frontal planes, and the range of motion of elbow joint significantly increased as the energy walking. The range of motion of hip joint had no significant difference in the any planes in changing of walking speed. But the most remarkable difference of the two walking patterns revealed at the trunk. The range of flexion/extension angle had significant increasing $2.36^{\circ}$ at normal speed, and the range of the right/left flexion angle had significant increasing below $4^{\circ}$ at the 3 walking speed, and The range of rotation angle had significant increasing $7.35^{\circ}$, $9.22^{\circ}$, respectively at the normal and slow speed. But there was no significant difference of range of motion at the hip and knee joints between energy walking and normal walking.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.361-367
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• 2016

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare three-dimensional kinematic changes of the lower extremity between the two different braking distances during snowplow in alpine skiing. Method: Six alpine ski instructors (age: $25.3{\pm}1.5yr$, height: $169.3{\pm}2.9cm$, weight: $66.2{\pm}5.9kg$, career: $4.2{\pm}2.9yr$) participated in this study. Each skier was asked to perform snowplow on the two different braking distances (2 and 4 m). Results: Snowplow and edging angles (p = .006 and p = .005), ankle adduction and inversion (p = .033 and p = .002), knee extension (p = .003), and hip abduction and internal rotation (p = .043 and p = .006) were significantly greater in the 2 m than in the 4 m braking distance. Conclusion: Based on our results, we suggest that skiers should make greater snowplow and edging angles on the shorter braking distance. In this situation, ankle joint adduction/inversion angle and hip joint internal-rotation make greater snowplow angle, and hip joint abduction make greater edging angle. In addition, greater knee joint extension angle may lead to more posteriorly positioned center of mass.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1505-1508
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• 2008

One of the important functions of prosthetic foot is the foot inversion-eversion which is so important when walking on uneven surfaces. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of foot eversion angle especially on knee and ankle joint for transtibial amputees by motion analysis. The experimental data were collected from three transtibial amputees and then ten healthy individuals. To simulate walking on side sloping ground, we used custom-made slope (5, 10, 15 degrees). Motion analysis was performed by 3-dimensional motion analyzer for 6 dynamic prosthetic feet. The results showed that knee abduction moments of amputated leg were decreased but those of sound leg were mainly increased as foot eversion angle increased. And ankle abduction moments of sound leg were inconsistent in magnitude and tendency between control and experimental group. Therefore foot eversioncharacteristics should be considered to develop advanced prosthetic foot.