• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.109-119
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences of the mechanical efficiency on the characteristics of the basketball wheelchairs(cambers & size of the handrims). Nine healthy and normal wheelchair basketball players who had no impairments to their upper extremities were volunteered to participate in this study. $VO_2$ was collected using automatic gas analyzer(vmax29). Gross efficiency, net efficiency and work efficiency were analyzed from the calculated external power output and energy expenditure. The results were followed. First, gross efficiency in the basketball wheelchairs was observed across the range from 4 to 10%. Gross efficiency in this study showed less values than that from the literature reviewed in the arm cranking(15%), racing wheelchair(above 30%), gait(27%) and cycling(18-23%). Second, the small size of handrim(61cm) at the 16 degrees of camber produced higher efficiency values than the large size of handrim(66cm) whereas the different sizes of handrim at the 20 degrees of camber did not show any pattern. Third, both faster speed($1.11^m/s{\rightarrow}1.39^m/s$) and increases in treadmill inclination produced increases in energy expenditure. The results of this study may provide not only better understanding of the mechanical efficiency with adequate camber degree and proper size of handrim but also fundamental information for manufacturing the wheelchair.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to analyze the foot-pressure distribution of 2D(2 dimensional form) & 3D(3 dimensional form; a customized arch-fit for posture correction) insoles for assessing their biomechanical functionality. Background : Recently there has been increased interest in both foot health and foot pain patients. Analysis of the plantar pressure was often used to solve the problems of the foot displayed by such people as rheumatoid arthritis patients. Method : Subjects who participated in this study were 17 female university students who had no previous injury experience in lower limbs and a normal gait pattern. The shoe size of all subjects was 240 mm. Two models of insoles of 2D(typical flat insole - 2 dimensional form) and 3D(special production - 3 dimensional form) were selected for the test. Using the Pedar-X system and Pedar-X insoles, 4.0 km/h of walking speed, and a compilation of 50 steps walking stages were used to analyze foot-pressure distribution. Results : Results of the foot-pressure distribution and biomechanical functionality on each insole were as follows; analyses of mean plantar pressure, maximum plantar pressure, maximum vertical GRF, and plantar pressure curve shape all showed overall low plantar pressure and GRF. Conclusion : This can be evaluated as an excellent insole for low levels on the plantar pressure and GRF. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that according to this analysis the 3D Customized Arch-fit Insole was better than 2D insole on the basis of these criteria.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.323-331
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of performing a cognitive task during treadmill walking on the stride rate variability. Ten university students(age $24.0{\pm}0.25$, height $172{\pm}3.1cm$, weight $66{\pm}5.3kg$) were participated in dual task experiments which consist of both walking alone and walking with a cognitive task. Two-back task was selected for the cognitive task since it did not have learning effect during the experimental procedure.3D motion analysis system was used to measure subject's position data by changing walking speed with 4.8, 5.6, 6.4, 6.8, and 7.2 km/hr. Stride rate was calculated by the time between heel contact and heel contact. Accuracy rate of a cognitive task during walking, coefficient of variance, allometric scaling methods and Fano factor were used to estimated the stride rate variability. As the walking speed increased, accuracy rate decreased and the logarithmic value of Fano factor increased which showed the statistical difference. Thus it can be concluded that the gait control mechanism is distracted by the secondary attention focus which is the cognitive task ie. two-back task. Further study is needed to clarify this by increasing the number of subject and experiment time.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.11-17
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the smoothness of movement during various walking speeds. Based on the maximum smoothness theory (or the minimum jerk theory), we hypothesized that the walking speed at the maximum smoothness (or minimum normalized jerk) is the same as that at the minimum energy consumption. Eleven university students participated in treadmill walking experiment with 11 different walking speeds (1.11, 1.19, 1.25, 1.33, 1.56, 1.78, 1.9, 2, 211, 233, and 2.47m/sec). Normalized jerk at 15 markers and the center of mass was calculated. Results showed that there existed a quadratic relationship between the normalized jerk of the vertical direction at the center of mass and the walking speed As the walking speed increased, the normalized jerk of all directions at the heel decreased Our hypothesis that the previously published energetically optimal walking speed ($1.25\;{\sim}\;1.4m/s$) is the same as the minimum jerk speed (1.78m/s) did not agree with this result. The minimum normalized jerk at the center of mass occurred at the walking speed of 1.78m/s which was the preferred walking speed by subjects' questionaries. Further studies concerning the energetically optimal walking speed, preferred walking speed, and walk-run transition speed or run-walk transition speed are necessary based on actual energy consumption experiment and various multi-dimensional analysis.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of insole-equipped ankle-foot-orthoses (AFO) on gait. 10 healthy males who had no history of injury in the lower extremity participated in this study as the subjects. The foot of each subject was first scanned, and the insole fit to the plantar was made using BDI-PCO(Pedcad Gmbh, Germany). The subject then was made to walk on a treadmill under four experimental conditions: 1) normal walking, 2) walking wearing AFO, 3) walking wearing AFO equipped with the insole, 4) walking wearing pneumatic-ankle-foot-orthosis (pAFO) equipped with the insole. During walking, foot pressure data such as maximum force, contacting area, peak pressure, and mean pressure was collected using Pedar-X system (Novel Gmbh, Germany) and EMG activity of lower limb muscles such as gastrocnemius medial head, gastrocnemius lateral head, and soleus was recorded using MP150 EMG module (BIOPAC System Inc., USA). Collected data was then analyzed using paired t-test in order to investigate the effects of the insole. As a result of the analysis, when insole was equipped, overall contacting area was increased while both the highest peak pressure and the mean pressure were significantly decreased, and EMG activity of the lower limb muscles was decreased. On the contrary, the cases of wearing AFO showed the decreased contacting area and the increased pressures. Therefore, the AFO equipped with a proper insole fit well to the foot can help comfortable walking by spreading the pressure over the entire plantar.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.593-605
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the personalized treacmill exercise analysis using a smart mirror based on Kinect sensor. To evaluate the performance of the development system, 10 health males were used to measure the range of the hip joint, knee joint, and ankle joint using a smart mirror when walking on a treadmill. For the validity and reliability of the development system, the validity and reliability were analyzed by comparing the human movement data measured by the Kinect sensor with the human movement data measured by the infrared motion capture device. As a result of validity verification, the correlation coefficient r=0.871~0.919 showed a high positive correlation, and through linear regression analysis, the validity of the smart mirror system was 88%. Reliability verification was conducted by ICC analysis. As a result of reliability verification, the correlation coefficient r=0.743~0.916 showed high correlation between subjects, and the consistency for repeated measurement was also very high at ICC=0.937. In conclusion, despite the disadvantage that Kinect sensor is less accurate than the motion capture system, Kinect is it has the advantage of low price and real-time information feedback. This means that the Kinect sensor is likely to be used as a tool for evaluating exercise prescription through human motion measurement and analysis.