• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.264-271
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• 2020

Background: Because a forward-leaning posture can cause increased back muscle activity and pain. Therefore, an innovative method to reduce back muscle activity and pain is required. Objects: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a head support on muscle activity and pain in a forward-leaning posture. Methods: A total of 14 male and 16 female students (average age, 21.65 ± 2.37 years; height, 166.15 ± 7.90 cm; and weight, 60.65 ± 9.00 kg) were recruited for the experiment. Two of them were excluded due to musculoskeletal disorders. The muscle activity and pain in the forward-leaning posture were assessed while participants washed dishes for 7 minutes with and without a head support. The condition of using a head support was randomly performed with a 5-minutes break. To confirm a lumbar flexion angle of 30° during the experiment, myoVIDEO was used, and surface electromyography was used to measure muscle activity. Pain was assessed using a 10-point visual analog scale (VAS). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze the data, with p < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. Results: The cervical, thoracic, and lumbar erector spinae muscle activities significantly decreased with the use of the head support, but there was no significant change in the gluteus maximus. There was a significant decrease in the VAS score for the lumbar erector spinae (p < 0.05), but there was no significant change in the VAS score for the cervical region. Conclusion: The use of a head support in a forward-leaning posture reduced cervical, thoracic, and lumbar erector muscle activity and pain. Therefore, it could be recommended during working in a forward-leaning posture, such as during dishwashing, cooking, and working as a factory employee.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2010

For stability analysis of the lumbar spine, the hypothesis presented is that the disc has stress sensors driving feedback mechanism, which could react to the imposed loads by adjusting the contraction of the muscles. Fusion in the motion segment of the lumbar spinal column is believed to alter the stability of the spinal column. To identify this effect finite element (FE) models combined with optimization technique was applied and quantify the role of each muscle and reaction forces in the spinal column with respect to the fusion level. The musculoskeletal FE model was consisted with detailed whole lumbar spine, pelvis, sacrum, coccyx and simplified trunk model. Vertebral body and pelvis were modeled as a rigid body and the rib cage was constructed with rigid truss element for the computational efficiency. Spinal fusion model was applied to L3-L4, L4-L5, L5-S1 (single level) and L3-L5 (two levels) segments. Muscle architecture with 46 local muscles was used as acting directions. Minimization of the nucleus pressure deviation and annulus fiber average axial stress deviation was selected for cost function. As a result, spinal fusion produced reaction changes at each motion segment as well as contribution of each muscle. Longissimus thoracis and psoas major muscle showed dramatic changes for the cases of L5-S1 and L3-L5 level fusion. Muscle force change at each muscle also generated relatively high nucleus pressure not only at the adjacent level but at another level, which can explain disc degeneration pattern observed in clinical study.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1105-1113
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• 2017

The Purpose of this study was to determine the effects of sciatic nerve mobilization on pain and lower back muscle strength in female patients in their 40s who have been diagnosed with lumbar radiculopathy. Using a simple blinded method, 20 female patients with neuropathy in the nerve segments between L4-S1 were randomly divided into one group (n=10) that would undergo sciatic nerve mobilization, and another group (n=10) that would perform lower back segment stabilization exercises. The two groups attended 3 sessions per week, with each session taking 30 minutes, for a duration of 4 weeks. In the preliminary examinations, the pain index as well as the isometric muscle strength of the lower back extensor and flexor muscles were measured. After the passing of 4 weeks. The same method of measurement was used for the concluding examinations. Comparison of the pain indices in the two groups revealed that they both experienced a statistically significant decrease, and further inspection revealed that the there was a more substantial difference in the sciatic nerve mobilization group. Results of comparing changes in the Isometric Muscle Strength lower back muscle and bending muscle by group, In comparison between groups, the isometric strength of the lower back extensor showed a more significant difference in the sciatic nerve mobilization group (p <.05). Conclulsion, it can be inferred that application of sciatic nerve mobilization has a positive effect on the pain index and isometric muscle strength of the lower back in female patients with lumbar radiculopathy in their 40s.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1-10
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• 2017

PURPOSE: This study assessed the effect of the pelvic compression belt on the electromyographic activity of erector spinae (ES), internal oblique (IO), rectus femoris (RF), and biceps femoris (BF) after bridge exercise with pelvic belt compression in subjects with lumbar instability. METHODS: Forty subjects with lumbar instability volunteered for this study. We asked them to perform the bridge exercise while wearing a pelvic belt compression for 30 minutes five times weekly over a six week period. The pelvic compression belt was adjusted just below the anterior superior iliac spines with stabilizing pressure using elastic compression bands during bridge position. Surface electromyographic data were collected from the erector spinae (ES), internal oblique (IO), rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF). RESULTS: After the six week intervention, the experimental group improved significantly. Muscle activation significantly decreased in the erector spinae, rectus femoris, and biceps femoris, and increased in the internal oblique muscle in bridge position while wearing a PCB (P <.01). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the bridge exercise with pelvic belt compression is helpful to reduce activation in superficial muscles and lower extremity muscles such as erector spinae (ES), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF) and increase activation in deep trunk muscle such as the internal oblique (IO).

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.201-204
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• 2011

Objective : To quantitatively evaluate the asymmetry of the multifidus and psoas muscles in unilateral sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods : Seventy-six patients who underwent open microdiscectomy for unilateral L5 radiculopathy caused by disc herniation at the L4-5 level were enrolled, of which 39 patients (51.3%) had a symptom duration of 1 month or less (group A), and 37 (48.7%) had a symptom duration of 3 months or more (group B). The cross-sectional areas (CSAs) of the multifidus and psoas muscles were measured at the mid-portion of the L4-5 disc level on axial MRI, and compared between the diseased and normal sides in each group. Results : The mean symptom duration was $0.6{\pm}0.4$ months and $5.4{\pm}2.7$ months for groups A and B, respectively (p<0.001). There were no differences in the demographics between the 2 groups. There was a significant difference in the CSA of the multifidus muscle between the diseased and normal sides (p<0.01) in group B. In contrast, no significant multifidus muscle asymmetry was found in group A. The CSA of the psoas muscle was not affected by disc herniation in either group. Conclusion : The CSA of the multifidus muscle was reduced by lumbar disc herniation when symptom duration was 3 months or more.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.605-610
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to examine the changes on lumbar muscle strength in relation to 12-week pilates mat exercise of elderly women. The participants are chosen for 17 people who is an experimental group and 14 people who is an comparison group who except wastage and pilates mat exercise program was gradually intensify applied three times a week, during 12 weeks. The peak torque of flexion was increased(p<.01) and the difference of ratio of agonist to antagonist was decreased(p<.001). The total work of flexion and extension had significant increased(p<.001) at $120^{\circ}/sec$. As a result of all these, it was judged as positive effect for body composition, basal physical fitness and lumbar muscle strength after pilates mat exercise in 12 weeks. These positive effects showed that pilates mat exercise could got conclusions that mitigated the musculoskelctal disorders, slow down the progress of disorders, helped as a functions of physical.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.1873-1878
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• 2019

Background: Walking is a complex activity. The main components of walking include balance, coordination, and symmetrical posture. The characteristics of walking patterns of stroke patients include slow walking, measured by gait cycle and walking speed. This is an important factor that reflects post-stroke quality of life and walking ability. Objective: This study aimed to examine the effect of deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise on the spatiotemporal walking ability of stroke patients. Design: Quasi-experial study Methods: The experiment was conducted 5 times per week for 4 weeks, with 30 minutes per session, on 10 subjects in the experimental group who performed the deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise and 10 subjects in the control group who performed a regular exercise. Variables that represent the spatiotemporal walking ability (step length, stride length, step rate, and walking speed) were measured using GAITRrite before and after the experiment and were analyzed. Results: There was a significant difference in the pre- and post-exercise spatiotemporal walking ability between the two groups (p<.05). Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the step rate and walking speed between the two groups (p<.05). Conclusions: Deep lumbar muscle stabilization exercise is effective in improving the walking ability of stroke patients. Therefore, its application will help improve the spatiotemporal walking ability of stroke patients.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.29-32
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• 2012

In this paper, we propose a novel method to extract muscle area from lumbar ultrasonographic image. The muscle area resided in lumbar area can be defined as the area between thoracic vertebra and subcutaneous fat area. A modified 4-directional contour tracing algorithm is designed to detect the boundaries and candidate areas are extracted and verified by the morphological characteristics of lumbar area. The experiment using 392 lumbar images verifies that the proposed method is sufficiently effective by showing over 94% accuracy in extraction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.267-275
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• 2011

Objective : This study aims to examine how lumbar stabilization exercise and resistive exercise affect lumbar and lower extremity muscular strength of the aged. Method : Randomly selected 15 female senior citizens aged 65 or older at S, Y, and J senior citizens' center located in D city who meet the requirements for the study were divided into a resistive exercise group of 7 and a stabilization exercise group of 8 for which 60-minute-exercise sessions were administered three times a week for 12 weeks. Measuring lumbar and lower extremity muscular strength was measured six weeks and 12 weeks after exercise, respectively. Results : First, both resistive exercises and stabilization exercises are effective to improve lumbar muscular strength. Second, resistive exercise is effective to improve flexural muscle strength as well as lower extremity muscular strength, and stabilization exercise is effective for both flexion and extensor muscle strength. Conclusion : The 12 week lumbar stabilization exercise program appeared to be effective to improve lumbar and lower extremity muscular strength of the aged. This indicates that applying this program to identify and prevent frequent risk factors of falling can lead to the prevention of secondary problem factors of falling accidents.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.25-34
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• 2006

Purpose: This study is intended to evaluate the effects of lumbar stability after 3-dimensional exercises of lumbar stabilization. Methods: Total subjects with chronic low back pain(age ranged from 20 to 60) were recruited. All subjects received 3-dimensional exercise of trunk stabilization during 4 weeks in 00 orthopedic clinic, from May 15 to October 15 in 2006. All measurements of each patients were measured before and after lumbar stabilization exercise. Results: After lumbar stabilization exercise by CENTAUR(R), the muscle power was increased from 57.99kNm to 72.01kNm, there were statistically remarkable differences(p<0.05). VAS was lessened from 6.35 to 3.26, there were statistically remarkable differences(p<0.05). After lumbar stabilization exercise by CENTAUR(R), the temperature was increased from $27.68^{\circ}C$ to $28.26^{\circ}C$, there were remarkable differences statistically(p<0.05). Conclusions: It has been turned out that lumbar stabilization exercise has positive effect on the muscle strengthening, pain index and thermal change.