• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.222-229
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on the posture and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors with an ankle-foot orthosis. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty-four chronic persons with chronic stroke admitted to Bobath Memorial Hospital in Seongnam city were divided into two groups by random blind method. Treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis was performed in the experimental group and treadmill exercise was performed in the control group. The experiment was carried out for 6 weeks, and the experiment was carried out three times a week for 20 minutes per session. To measure the effect, static balance was measured using the MTD system before and after training, and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used to measure functional balance. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in the BBS measurement results for confirming the functional balance (p<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the 2 groups in single limb support time, step time and step length (p<0.05). Conclusions: In this study, it was found that treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis in persons with chronic stroke was effective in maintaining functional balance, walking ability, step length, and step time. Therefore, it is necessary to use a flexible ankle-foot orthosis with proper treadmill exercise as a method of improving balance and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.139-148
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• 2018

PURPOSE: This study compared the effects of indoor and outdoor environmental changes on the activity of the major lower limb muscles and walking factors in people 40-50 years and those aged older than 70 years. METHODS: Ten middle-aged people in their forties (age:$44.2{\pm}2.7$, BMI:$21.8{\pm}1.8$) and 10 elderly aged more than 70 years (age:$76.4{\pm}5.9$, BMI:$22.2{\pm}1.9$) with a normal walking ability were included. The participants walked 100 m both indoors and outdoors at their own speed. Using a 3D motion analyzer and EMG, the walking speed, angle of the ankle and activity changes of the lower limb muscles were compared. RESULTS: Significant differences in walking speed and peak-plantar flexion angle were observed between the two groups (p<.05). The muscular activity of the gastrocnemius muscle (GCM) was significantly different outdoors in the swing phase between the two groups (p<.05). In the people aged in their forties, the muscular activity of the rectus femoris (RF) was significantly higher outdoors than indoors (p<.05). In the elderly, however, the muscular activity of the RF was lower outdoors than indoors (p<.05). When compared to those in there forties, the muscular activity of the outdoor RF significantly decreased in the elderly group (P<.05). The muscular activity of the biceps femoris (BF) in the elderly decreased significantly outdoors compared to indoors (p<.05). CONCLUSION: For the elderly, increasing the exposure to the new environments or focusing on the performance of repeated movements for gradual speed control and precise movements is required to maintain normal gaits and movements that are less affected by environmental changes.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.107-114
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• 2012

We have developed a textile capacitive pressure sensor for smart gait analysis. The proposed system can convert sensor signal into step counts and pressure levels by different posture. To evaluate the performance of insole type textile capacitive sensor, we measured capacitance change by increment of weights from 10 kg to 100 kg with 10 kg increment using M1 class rectangular weights (four 20 kg weights and two 10 kg weights) which have ${\pm}10%$ tolerance. The result showed non-linearity characteristic of a general capacitive pressure sensor. The test was performed according to a test protocol for four different postures (sitting, standing, standing on a left leg and standing on a right leg) and different walking speeds (1 km/h and 4 km/h). Five healthy male subjects were participated in each test. As we expected, the pressure level was changed by pressure distribution according to posture. Also, developed textile pressure sensor showed higher recognition rate (average 98.06 %) than commercial pedometer at all walking speed. Therefore, the proposed step counts and posture monitoring system using conductive textile capacitive pressure sensor proved to be a reliable and useful tool for monitoring gait parameters.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 2015

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate difference in fascicle behavior of the medial gastrocnemius during the locomotion with varying intensities, such as gait and one-legged and two-legged vertical jumping. Methods : Six subjects (3 males and 3 females; age: $27.2{\pm}1.6yrs.$, body mass: $62.8{\pm}9.8kg$, height: $169.6{\pm}8.5cm$) performed normal gait (G) at preferred speed and maximum vertical jumping with one (OJ) and two (TJ) legs. While subjects were performing the given tasks, the hip, knee and ankle joint motion and ground reaction force was monitored using a 8-infrared camera motion analysis system with two forceplates. Simultaneously, electromyography of the triceps surae muscles, and the fascicle length of the medial gastrocnemius were recorded using a real-time ultrasound imaging machine. Results : Comparing to gait, the kinematic and kinetic parameters of TJ and OJ were found to be significantly different. Along with those parameters, change in the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle-tendon complex (MTC) length ($50.57{\pm}6.20mm$ for TJ and $44.14{\pm}5.39mm$ for OJ) and changes in the fascicle length of the MG ($18.97{\pm}3.58mm$ for TJ and $20.31{\pm}4.59mm$ for OJ) were observed. Although the total excursion of the MTC and the MG fascicle length during the two types of jump were not significantly different, however the pattern of length changes were found to be different. For TJ, the fascicle length maintained isometric longer during the propulsive phase than OJ. Conclusion : One-legged and two-legged vertical jumping use different muscle-tendon interaction strategies.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.37-41
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• 2003

The aim of this study is to present the basic reference data Effect of uneffected side insole on Gait Pattern in Hemiplegia Patients. The basic gait parameters were extracted from 10 Adult Hemiplegia Patients, 5 left Hemiplegia Patients and 5 right Hemiplegia Patients, 50 to 60 years of age using VICON 512 Motion Analyzer. The results were as follows; 1) The mean Cadence of the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $70.58{\pm}12.67\;steps/min$, to $77.28{\pm}14.58\;steps/min$.(p>0.05) 2) The mean Walking Speed of the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $0.40{\pm}0.17\;m/s$, to $0.49{\pm}0.18\;m/s$.(p>0.05) 3) The mean Stride Length of the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $0.67{\pm}0.20\;m$, to $0.75{\pm}0.19m$.(p>0.05) 4) The mean anterior angles of pint on the pelvic tilt for different the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $13.22{\pm}7.25^{\circ}$, to $11.68{\pm}4.02^{\circ}$.(p>0.06) 5) The mean maximal angles of pint on the hip flexion motion for different the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $24.62{\pm}8.35^{\circ}$, to $24.74{\pm}9.12^{\circ}$.(p>0.05) 6) The mean maximal angles of joint on the knee flexion motion for different the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $34.27{\pm}16.71^{\circ}$, to $35.93{\pm}18.22^{\circ}$.(p>0.05) insole in shoes were $15.97{\pm}7.72^{\circ}$, to $18.77{\pm}11.03^{\circ}$.(p>0.05) 7) The mean maximal angles of joint on the ankle dorsiflexion motion for different the shoes to the 1cm. 8) The mean maximal angles of joint on the ankle plantarflexion motion for different the shoes to the 1cm insole in shoes were $-4.24{\pm}10.66^{\circ}$, to $-7.04{\pm}11.00^{\circ}$.(p<0.05)

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.403-416
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• 1998

Socket pressure distributions with gait analysis of a trnsfemoral and a transtibial prostheses were measured in order to assess an optimal socket fitting and function. Ankle joint was aligned by the neutral and the dorsi/plantar flexed positions. Compared to dorsi and plantar flexed positions of ankle joint, cadence and walking speed increased with the neutral ankle joint alignment. Other gait parameters were close to the normative data with the neutral ankle joint alignment. For the transfemoral amputee, dorsiflexed alignment of the ankle joint created high pressure on the lateral aspect of the socket, on the other hand, plantarflexed alignment resulted in increased pressure on the medial aspect of the socket. For the transtibial amputee, dorsiflexed alignment of the ankle resulted in high pressure on the antero-lateral aspect of the socket during mid-stance, but apltarflexion of the ankle joint showed slight increases in pressure at the same location in the socket. The present study clearly demonstarted that malalignment of a prosthesis results in localized increasesing pressure within the socket. Proper slignment of the prosthesis is required in order to acquire an appropriate socket-limb interface as well as the proper gait.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.537-542
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• 2022

There is a limit to the current indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring method using fixed sensors and devices. A mobile robot for IAQ monitoring was developed by mounting IAQ monitoring sensors on a small multi-legged robot to minimize vibration and protect the sensors from vibration while robot moves. The developed mobile robot used a simple gait mechanism to enable the robot to move forward, backward, and turns only with the combination of forward and reverse rotation of the two DC motors. Due to the simple gait mechanism, not only IAQ data measurements but also gait motion control were processed using a single Arduino board. Because the mobile robot has small number of electronic components and low power consumption, a relatively low-capacity battery was mounted on the robot to reduce the weight of the battery. The weight of mobile robot is 1.4kg including links, various IAQ sensors, motors, and battery. The gait and turning speed of the mobile robot was measured at 3.75 cm/sec and 14.13 rad/sec. The maximum height where the robot leg could reach was 33 mm, but the mobile robot was able to overcome the bumps up to 24 mm.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2012

Objective: Dual-task walking deficits impact functional daily life, which often requires walking while performing simultaneous tasks such as talking, thinking or carrying an object. This study is to find out the latest trend of dual-task training's influence on ambulatory abilities of a stroke patient. Design: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Methods: This literature review was conducted in Pubmed and Sciencedirect with the follwing key words:stroke, cerebro-vascular accident, hemiplegia, gait, rehabilitation, exercise. 7 studies were chosen in findings by search tool. 3 studies were case study, 3 studies were cross sectional observational study and 1 study was randomized controlled trial. Results: It was found that stroke patients have difficulties in doing 2 motor tasks simultaneously and when they do 2 tasks, one is done in a naturally preferred activity areas. Moreover, when simply applying dual-tasks, the walking speed decreased. Meanwhile, when applying them through training, the speed increased. This showed the improvement of effective task-implementation abilities after dual-task training using task-integration models. Conclusions: In the beginning of the 2000s, dual-tasks were implemented by simply combining walking and cognition or exercise task, and the results of this study suggest that subjects with stroke have difficulty performing dual task. However, the latest trend is to let patients do the dual-task training by combining it with virtual reality. Therefore, dual task training could be performed in a safe in the environment such as virtual reality or augment reality.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.479-486
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of high-heeled shoe on the quiet standing and gait balance. Twenty women (mean height: $161.6{\pm}3.3\;cm$, mean body mass: $53.8{\pm}6.3\;kg$, mean age: $23.8{\pm}2.7$ yrs..) who were without history or complain of lower limb pain took part in this study. They were asked to stand quietly on a force platform for 30 sec and walk on it at their preferred walking speed (mean speed $3.14{\pm}0.5\;km/hr$.) with wearing three different high-heeled shoe, 3, 7, 9 cm high for collecting data. Data were randomly recorded to collect two trials for quiet standing and five trials for walking The parameters to have been analyzed for comparison between three conditions of the height of high-heeled shoe were COP(Center of Pressure) range, COP velocity, sway area, and free moment on the static balance and COP range, COP velocity, and free moment on the dynamic balance. In this study, high-heel height affected on the COP range and velocity in the ante-posterior direction during walking, dynamic balance, but didn't affect on the quiet standing, static balance.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.30-36
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• 2021

Objective: The objective of the present study was to analyze the relationship between strength of the lower extremity's joints and their local dynamic stability (LDS) of gait in elderly women. Method: Forty-five elderly women participated in this study. Average age, height, mass, and preference walking speed were 73.5±3.7 years, 153.8±4.8 cm, 56.7±6.4 kg, and 1.2±0.1 m/s, respectively. They were tested torque peak of the knee and ankle joints with a Human Norm and while they were walking on a treadmill at their preference speed for a long while, kinematic data were obtained using six 3-D motion capture cameras. LDS of the lower extremity's joints were calculated in maximum Lyapunov Exponent (LyE). Correlation coefficients between torque of the joints and LyE were obtained using Spearman rank. Level of significance was set at p<.05. Results: Knee flexion torque and its LDS was negatively associated with adduction-abduction and flexion-extension movement (p<.05). In addition, ratio of the knee flexion torque to extension and LDS was negatively related to internal-external rotation. Conclusion: In conclusion, knee flexion strength should preferentially be strengthened to increase LDS of the lower extremity's joints for preventing from small perturbations during walking in elderly women.