• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.143-147
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the application of a Thorax belt affects the stability of the spine in subjects with a wide infra-sternal angle. A total of 15 subject with wide infra-sternal angle participated in the experiment. Active Double leg lowering and active one-leg raising were performed with or without a thorax belt. Two spinal stability tests (active double lowering and active one-leg raising) performed with or without thorax belt application showed significant differences between each condition. Based on the results of present study, the application of a thorax belt is considered to be an effective therapeutic tool that can stabilize the spine to subjects with abnormally increased chest cage and spinal or trunk instability.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.206-210
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• 2014

Objective : Lumbar spinal stenosis is a common degenerative spine disease that requires surgical intervention. Currently, there is interest in minimally invasive surgery and various technical modifications of decompressive lumbar laminectomy without fusion. The purpose of this study was to present the author's surgical technique and results for decompression of spinal stenosis. Methods : The author performed surgery in 57 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis between 2006 and 2010. Data were gathered retrospectively via outpatient interviews and telephone questionnaires. The operation used in this study was named central decompressive laminoplasty (CDL), which allows thorough decompression of the lumbar spinal canal and proximal two foraminal nerve roots by undercutting the lamina and facet joint. Kyphotic prone positioning on elevated curvature of the frame or occasional use of an interlaminar spreader enables sufficient interlaminar working space. Pain was measured with a visual analogue scale (VAS). Surgical outcome was analyzed with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Data were analyzed preoperatively and six months postoperatively. Results : The interlaminar window provided by this technique allowed for unhindered access to the central canal, lateral recess, and upper/lower foraminal zone, with near-total sparing of the facet joint. The VAS scores and ODI were significantly improved at six-month follow-up compared to preoperative levels (p<0.001, respectively). Excellent pain relief (>75% of initial VAS score) of back/buttock and leg was observed in 75.0% and 76.2% of patients, respectively. Conclusion : CDL is easily applied, allows good field visualization and decompression, maintains stability by sparing ligament and bony structures, and shows excellent early surgical results.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.317-320
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• 2022

Purpose: This study aimed: to confirm the balance ability of patients with spinal cord injury in the sitting state through a functional reach test using an elastic aid; and to propose a balance improvement plan. Methods: The study evaluated seven patients with spinal cord injury who could maintain a sitting posture through minimum assistance. A functional reach test was performed before and after wearing an elastic aid while sitting on a chair, and the effects before and after use of the elastic aid were compared and analyzed through a motion analyzer. Results: In the functional reach test, the forward movement distance of the hand was 97.45 mm before wearing the elastic aid, but significantly increased to 131 mm after wearing the aid (p<0.05). Corresponding forward movement distances for the shoulder were 81.26 mm and 113 mm (p<0.05 for the increase). There was no statistically significant change in lateral functional arm extension. Conclusion: It was confirmed, through a functional reach test, that trunk stability in patients with spinal cord injury increased with use of an elastic aid. In future, more efficient rehabilitation treatment programs will be possible if trunk stability in patients with spinal cord injury is improved by using elastic aids, and if various exercise treatments are also included in the rehabilitation programs.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.1364-1367
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• 2003

These days, spinal interbody arthrodesis using fusion cage is very popular. The cage used for the spinal interbody arthrodesis is mainly inserted from the posterior of the spine. Accordingly, there could possibly occur damages at posterior and results in instability of structure. Moreover, one or two cages are inserted depending on the patients. In this study, it is attempted to evaluate the stability quantitatively by comparing two cases where one and two cages are inserted. For this purpose, a very fine 3-dimensional finite element model of vertebra is generated from the MRI data. From this vertebra model, two models are made: one with one cage and the other with two cages. Finally, finite element analys is performed for these two models and both of the mechanical behaviors are examined In addition, the effect on the stability is evaluated and compared quantitatively.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether changes in electromyography (EMG) activations of spinal stability muscles with respiratory demand change were due to changes in respiratory demand or in postural demand. Methods: Forty healthy subjects (19male, 21female, $20.8{\pm}1.9$years old) performed quiet breathing and four different forced respiratory maneuvers (FRM) (Pulsed Lip Breathing, Diaphragmatic Breathing, Combination breathing, and respiratory muscle endurance training breathing) while in sitting and standing positions. EMG data for four muscles (TrA/IO, EO, RA, and ES) were collected and filtered using a band pass filter (20~200Hz) and a notch filter (60, 120, 180Hz). Results: There were no significant differences on percentage of change on %MVIC between QB and FRM (PLB, CB, DB, and RMET) between positions (all p>0.05).

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.191-202
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• 2020

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the segmental mobilization technique of the lower back on the characteristics of the muscles and limited of stability of chronic backache patients. Methods : The subjects of the study were 30 chronic back pain patients who were divided into groups of 15, a manual therapy group (Group I) and a spinal decompression therapy group (Group II), via random assignation. The subjects had 15 minutes of superficial heat therapy, 15 minutes of interference wave therapy, and 5 minutes of ultrasound therapy for conservative physical therapy. Additionally, manual therapy and spinal decompression therapy were administered to each group for 30 minutes, 5 times a week for 8 weeks. Before intervention, the characteristics of the muscles and limited of stability of the muscles were analyzed. After 8 weeks of intervention, the above items were re-measured in the same manner and analyzed between groups. Results : The results of comparative analysis of the characteristics of the muscles and limited of stability between groups showed that there were statistically significant differences. The manual therapy group (Group I) showed significant differences in characteristics of the muscles compared to the spinal decompression therapy group (Group II). The manual therapy group (Group I) showed significant differences in limited of stability compared to the spinal decompression therapy group (Group II). Conclusion : The result confirmed that manual therapy was more effective in the characteristics of the muscles and limited of stability. Based on this study, additional studies are necessary on the effect of various techniques of manual therapy on muscle activity and muscle thickness in chronic back pain patients. In order to develop an effective manual therapy program, studies using a variety of evaluations are needed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.145-152
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• 2020

In this study, we evaluated spinal stability based on the change in the thoracolumbar fixation segment using finite element analysis (FEA). To accomplish this, a finite element (FE) model of a normal thoracolumbar spine (T10-L4), including intervertebral discs (IVD), ligaments, and facet joints, was constructed, and the material properties reported in previous studies were implemented. However, L1 was assumed as the lesion site, and three types of posterior fixation, namely, L1-L2, T12-L2, and T12-L1-L2, were implemented in the thoracolumbar FE model. In addition, the loading conditions for flexion, extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation were adopted. Through the series FEA, the deformation, equivalent stress, range of motion, and moment on the pedicle screws, vertebrae, and IVD were calculated, and the spinal stability was evaluated based on the FEA results.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 2014

Objective : Vertebral body replacement following corpectomy in thoracic or lumbar spine is performed with titanium mesh cage (TMC) containing any grafts. Radiological changes often occur on follow-up. This study investigated the relationship between the radiological stability and clinical symptoms. Methods : The subjects of this study were 28 patients who underwent corpectomy on the thoracic or lumbar spine. Their medical records and radiological data were retrospectively analyzed. There were 23 cases of tumor, 2 cases of trauma, and 3 cases of infection. During operation, spinal reconstruction was done with TMC and additional screw fixation. We measured TMC settlement in sagittal plane and spinal angular change in coronal and sagittal plane at postoperative one month and last follow-up. Pain score was also checked. We investigated the correlation between radiologic change and pain status. Whether factors, such as the kind of graft material, surgical approach, and fusion can affect the radiological stability or not was analyzed as well. Results : Mean follow-up was 23.6 months. During follow-up, $2.08{\pm}1.65^{\circ}$ and $6.96{\pm}2.08^{\circ}$ of angular change was observed in coronal and sagittal plane, respectively. A mean of cage settlement was $4.02{\pm}2.83mm$. Pain aggravation was observed in 4 cases. However, no significant relationship was found between spinal angular change and pain status (p=0.518, 0.458). Cage settlement was seen not to be related with pain status, either (p=0.644). No factors were found to affect the radiological stability. Conclusion : TMC settlement and spinal angular change were often observed in reconstructed spine. However, these changes did not always cause postoperative axial pain.

• Journal of Applied Reliability
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.243-247
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• 2014

The Spinal cage is the cage-shaped implantable medical device used to treat structural abnormalities caused by degenerative intervertebral disks. In order to secure enough space to provide the mechanical stability and the intervertebral fusion, after removing the intervertebral disc, the Spinal cage is transplanted between the intervertebral space. A hammer is used to push the spinal cage into a narrow space during the spinal cage transplant surgery. Due to the impact and pressure, damage occurs frequently on the spinal cage. In this study, a test model is constructed to measure the value of impulse generally applied on the Spinal cage. The figures of internal impulse before and after the improvement of the Spinal cage are then compared to suggest direction to improve the reliability of the spinal cage.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.187-188
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• 2006

A 3-D finite element model of human thoracolumbar spine (T12-L2) was reconstructed from CT images. Various anterior and posterior instrumentation techniques were performed with long cage after corpectomy. Six loading cases were applied up to 10 Nm, espectively. The rotations of T12 with respect to L2 were measured and the stiffnesses were calculated as the applied forces divided by the segmental rotations. The posterior fixation technique increased the stiffness of the spine the most. The addition of anterior rod from 1 to 2 increased the stiffness significantly without posterior fixation, but no effect was found with posterior fixation. We found that different fixation techniques changed the stiffness of the spine.