• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.584-587
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• 2023

Polymelia is an extremely rare congenital anomaly where an individual is born with an abnormally developed extra or supernumerary limb which is generally shrunken and functionless. A case of thoracomelia (a type of polymelia) was observed macroscopically and confirmed radiologically in 1.5 years old boy born in Nepal with an abnormal supernumerary upper limb attached to his back in the thoracic region. The limb was successfully amputated, and the boy had a favorable outcome after surgical treatment, without any adverse effects or impairment. Understanding the embryogenesis of thoracomelia is essential for unraveling the complex mechanisms underlying this condition and potentially aiding in early diagnosis and intervention. This case report and review aims to shed light on the intricate processes governing forelimb formation and their perturbations leading to thoracomelia.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.120-129
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• 2005

1. Objectives This study was conducted to establish a standard and classify suitability in the treatment of speech impediment and limb impediment among the children with development disabilities using Oriental Medicine treatment on the ground of Sasang Constitutional Medicine. 2. Methods 43 patients with pediatric development disabilities with speech impediment and 10 patients with pediatric development disabilities with limb impediment as the main symptoms had been chosen in this study. Oriental Medicine treatments on the ground of Sasang Constitutional Medicine were rendered and evaluated responses as well as pursuing most proper treatment methods. 3. Results & Conclusions 1) For pediatric development disabilities with speech impediment, Oriental Medicine treatment showed a significant effect on similarity of Autism and Cerebral Palsy, but insignificant effect on innate Autism. 2) For pediatric development disabilities with limb impediment, Bee venom was effective for severe limb impediment and limb asthenia, while as eight principles herbal acupuncture effective for mild limb impediment and spasticity. 3) Sasang Constitutional Medicine for treating speech impediment and limb impediment among the children with development disabilities showed general improvement as a fundamental healing through coordinating inner organ activities.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2020

Background: General anesthesia (GA) has been considered the anesthetic technique which most frequent leads to phantom limb pain (PLP) after a limb amputation. However, these prior reports were limited by small sample sizes. The aims of this study were to evaluate the incidence of PLP according to the various anesthetic techniques used for limb amputation and also to compare the occurrence of PLP according to amputation etiology using the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service for large-scale demographic information. Methods: The claims of patients who underwent limb amputation were reviewed by analyzing the codes used to classify standardized medical behaviors. The patients were categorized into three groups-GA, neuraxial anesthesia (NA), and peripheral nerve block (PNB)-in accordance with the anesthetic technique. The recorded diagnosis was confirmed using the diagnostic codes for PLP registered within one year after the limb amputation. Results: Finally, 7,613 individuals were analyzed. According to the recorded diagnoses, 362 patients (4.8%) developed PLP after amputation. Among the 2,992 patients exposed to GA, 191 (6.4%) were diagnosed with PLP, whereas 121 (4.3%) of the 2,840 patients anesthetized with NA, and 50 (2.8%) of the 1,781 patients anesthetized under PNB developed PLP. The relative risks were 0.67 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-0.84; P < 0.001) for NA and 0.43 (95% CI, 0.32-0.59; P < 0.001) for PNB. Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort study, using large-scale population-based databases, the incidence rates of PLP after limb amputations were, in the order of frequency, GA, NA, and PNB.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.491-499
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• 2020

Background: Assembly lines work is frequently associated to work-related upper limb musculoskeletal disorders. The related disability and absenteeism make it important to implement efficient health surveillance systems. The main objective of this study was to identify self-reported variables that can determine work-related upper limb musculoskeletal symptoms-discomfort/pain-during a 6-month follow-up. Methods: This was a prospective study with a 6-month follow-up period, performed in an assembly line. Upper limb musculoskeletal discomfort/pain was assessed through the presence of self-reported symptoms. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate which self-reported variables were associated to upper limb symptoms after 6 months at the present and to upper limbs symptoms in the past month. Results: Of the 200 workers at baseline, 145 replied to the survey after 6 months. For both outcomes, "having upper limb symptoms during the previous 6 months" and "education" were possible predictors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that having previous upper limb symptoms was related to its maintenance after 6 months, sustaining it as a specific determinant. It can be a hypothesis that this population had mainly workers with chronic symptoms, although our results give only limited support to self-reported indicators as determinants for upper limb symptoms. Nevertheless, the development of an efficient health surveillance system for high demanding jobs should implicate self-reported indicators, but also clinical and work conditions assessment should be accounted on the future.

• PNF and Movement
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2021

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate muscle activity according to knee flexion angle during single-limb-deadlift exercises. Methods: In total, 26 healthy volunteers participated. The single-limb-deadlift consisted of 0˚, 15˚, and 30˚ knee joint bending. The electromyography data were collected from the semitendinosus (SM), the biceps femoris (BF), the rectus femoris (RF), the vastus lateralis (VL), and the vastus medialis (VM). In addition, hamstrings and quadriceps (HQ) ratio was measured during the single-limb-deadlift using electromyography. Results: During the single-limb-deadlift, RF, VL, and VM were significantly higher at 30˚ bending angles compared to muscle activity of 0˚ and 15˚ knee-joint bending. The HQ ratio had significant differences in all three knee joint bending angles. In particular, the single-limb-deadlift carried out to a 30˚ knee-joint bend showed the closest value to 1. Conclusion: The most balanced coactivation ratios were observed during a single-limb-deadlift to a 30˚ knee-joint bend angle. A single-limb-deadlift at a knee-bend angle of less than 30˚ could be used as an exercise to prevent ACL injury. It could also be used for post-injury rehabilitation programs by increasing knee-joint stability.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.315-322
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• 2009

This paper explains a control and navigation algorithm of a 6-DOF gait rehabilitation robot, which can allow a patient to navigate in virtual reality (VR) by upper and lower limbs interactions. In gait rehabilitation robots, one of the important concerns is not only to follow the robot motions passively, but also to allow the patient to walk by his/her intention. Thus, this robot allows automatic walking velocity update by estimating interaction torques between the human and the upper limb device, and synchronizing the upper limb device to the lower limb device. In addition, the upper limb device acts as a user-friendly input device for navigating in virtual reality. By pushing the switches located at the right and left handles of the upper limb device, a patient is able to do turning motions during navigation in virtual reality. Through experimental results of a healthy subject, we showed that rehabilitation training can be more effectively combined to virtual environments with upper and lower limb connections. The suggested navigation scheme for gait rehabilitation robot will allow various and effective rehabilitation training modes.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2016

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to examine muscle activities of trunk and lower limb during squat and 108 bows exercises and to provide objective data for establishing a training method for improving muscle strength of trunk and lower limb. Methods: Twenty normal healthy subjects participated in this study. Each exercise was divided into five periods. Muscle activities of trunk and lower limb in each period of both 108 bows and squat exercises were measured and analyzed by independent t-test. Results: In starting, mid-flexion, mid-extension, and end period muscle activities obtained from 108 bows exercise were significantly higher than those from squat exercise. However, in the final flexion period, muscle activities of multifidus, elector spinae, rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and tibialis anterior from squat exercise were significantly higher than those from bow exercise. Conclusion: In this study, high muscle activities in most muscles of trunk and lower limb were observed from all periods of 108 bows exercise except the final flexion period. Therefore, it is likely that 108 bows exercise rather than squat exercise is more suitable for high strength exercise to improve muscle strength of trunk and lower limb and thus will be applicable for strengthening muscles of trunk and lower limb of patients.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 1995

Recently limb-salvage operation is widely used for the treatment of malignant bone tumor. But distal leg is out of range of limb-salvage operation due to its technical problem. We report satisfactory limb-salvage operation with tumor prosthesis in 3 cases of osteosarcoma of the distal tibia and fibula. Two cases involved in the tibia and 1 case in the fibula. Average age at operation was 23 years. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy were performed in all 3 cases. We used custom made tumor prosthesis which is designed by Seoul National University Orthopaedic Department. Overall Functional Evaluations by Enneking rating system were good in all 3 cases. All cases are CDF(continuosly disease free since the surgical procedure) state at mean follow-up 2 year and 9 months. In conclusion limb-salvage with tumor prosthesis is useful treatment modality for malignant bone tumor of distal tibia and fibula. Good functional results and few complications suggests limb salvage of distal lower leg may be replaceable with B-K amputation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.723-728
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• 2003

The physical restoration technology for lower limb amputees is being advanced as the biomechatronics is being applied to the area of rehabilitation. As the advanced prosthetics for lower limb amputees are introduced, a suitable prescription of biomechanical rehabilitation training becomes important to utilize the advanced full features of the devices. Since lower limb amputation significantly affects biomechanical balance of mosculoskeletal system for gait, an appropriate and optimal biomechanical training and exercise should be provided to rebalance the system before wearing the prostheses. Particularly, biomechanical muscular training for hip movements in the both affected and sound lower limbs is important to achieve a normal-like ambulation. However, there is no study to understand the effect of hip muscle strength on the gait performance of lower limb amputees. To understand the hip muscle strength characteristics for normal and amputated subjects, the isokinetic exercises for various ratios of concentric contraction to eccentric contraction were performed for hip flexion-extension and adduction-abduction. As a results. biomechanical isokinetic training protocols and performance measurement methodologies for lower limb amputees were developed in this study. Using the protocols and measurement methods, it has been understood that the appropriate and optimal biomechanical prescription for the rehabilitation process for lower limb amputees is important for restoring their gait ability

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.171-177
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• 2020

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the upper limb strength, active joint range of motion (AROM), and upper limb function in persons with chronic stroke using virtual reality training in combination with upper limb sensory stimulation. Design: Two-group pretest-posttest design. Methods: 20 subjects were divided into two groups of 10, the sensory motor stimulation and virtual reality training (SMVR) and virtual reality training (VR) groups. The training was conducted for 30 minutes per session, three times a week for 8 weeks.The participants' upper limb strength was measured via the hand-held dynamometer, joint angle AROM was measured via dual inclinometer, function was measured using the Jebson-Taylor hand function test and the manual function test. Results: Significant differences were observed in all groups before and after the training for upper extremity strength, AROM, and function (p<0.05). Between the two groups, the SMVR group showed significant improvement in muscle strength, AROM, and Jebsen-Taylor hand function test scores compared with the VR groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: In this study, we confirmed that sensory stimulation and VR had positive effects on upper extremity strength, AROM, and function of persons with chronic stroke. The results suggest that in the future, VR in combination with sensory stimulation of the upper limb is likely to become an effective method (a rehabilitation training program) to improve the upper limb function of persons with chronic stroke.