• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.141-145
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare walking conditions (straight line and curved path) on walking patterns in persons who had experienced hemiplegic stroke and to determine whether if they adapt their walking pattern and performances according to changes in environmental conditions. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty-four hemiplegic stroke survivors participated in this study. This study measured walking performance in three different walking conditions, such as straight walking, the more-affected leg in the inner curve walking, and less-affected leg in the inner curve walking conditions, and a 2-dimentional gait analysis system was used as a primary measurement. This study also measured secondary clinical factors including the Timed Up-and-Go Test, the Trunk Impairment Scale, and the Dynamic Gait Index. Results: After analyzing, cadence and step length of the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were significantly different among the three different walking conditions in this study (p<0.05), but other temporospatial parameters were not significant. Cadence was the largest in the straight walking condition. Step length in the less-affected side, stride length in the more-affected side, and stride length in less-affected side were also the longest in the straight walking condition. Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that hemiplegic stroke survivors show walking adaptability according to changes in walking demands and conditions, and moreover, cadence and step and stride lengths were significantly different between straight and curved walking conditions.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

The main purposes of this study were to find the correlation between walking ability assessment tools using the Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), Spinal Cord Injury Measurement II (SCIM II), Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI), walking velocity, and walking endurance. The study population consisted of 56 patients with spinal cord injury referred to the department of Rehabilitative Medicine in the National Rehabilitation Hospital. All subjects were ambulatory with or without an assistive device. All participants were assessed by MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and X2. There was significant correlation between the MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance (p<.01). In particular, WISCI has a significant correlation with SCIM II(p<.001). Therefore the WISCI scale is an appropriate assessment tool to predict the gait ability of patients with spinal cord injury. Further study about MBI, FIM, SCIM II, WISCI, walking velocity, and walking endurance is needed using a longitudinal study design.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.286-293
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• 2007

For safe walking of the people who are blind, walking assistance robot which can detecting and avoiding the obstacle was investigated. The implemented prototype walking assistance robot consists of a obstacle detecting module, a user interface using acoustic signal and a driving module. The obstacle detecting module uses 6 ultrasonic sensors those located at the front part of the robot can perceive the obstacle which is in 3 meter distances and $180^{\circ}$ degrees. It calculates the distance and degree from the obstacle using TOF (time of flight) method and decides the 3-dimensional location of the obstacle. The obstacle information is delivered to the user using acoustic alarm and guide sound. The robot is designed to avoid by itself when the obstacle is detecting and the user only follows it to safe walking. After the designed robot was implemented, driving and obstacle detecting experiments were carried out. The result showed that the designed walking assistance robot will help the people who are blind to walk around safe.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.517-525
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• 2022

Objective: The rehabilitation protocols for functional recovery have been emphasized after total knee arthroplasty, and Pilates is in the spotlight as a safe and easily modified exercise method. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mat Pilates exercise on lower extremity function, postural balance, and walking in the individuals with total knee arthroplasty. Design: One group pretest-posttest design. Methods: Eighteen older women with unilateral total knee arthroplasty was recruited in the study. The subjects were evaluated on lower extremity function, postural balance, and walking before and after mat Pilates exercise. All subject performed one hour mat Pilates exercise, 3 times a week for 8 weeks. Mat Pilates exercises were focused on core stability and lower extremity strengthening and, more dynamic movements were added to increase the difficulty of movements every two weeks. The lower extremity function was measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), knee joint position sense, and five times sit-to-stand test. Postural balance was assessed by single leg stance test, functional reach test, and timed up and go test. Walking was measured by OptoGait system to temporospatial parameter. Results: The lower extremity function, postural balance, and walking were significantly improved after mat Pilates exercise, except for five times sit-to-stand test (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the mat Pilates exercise was a useful method to improve lower extremity function, postural balance, and walking in the older women with unilateral total knee arthroplasty.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.145-153
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study compares the effects of HUBER rehabilitation and general rehabilitation treatment on the coordination, balance, and walking ability of stroke patients. METHODS: This study enrolled 38 randomized stroke patients, and data was collected for 6 weeks. All participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 19) or control group (n = 19). The experimental group were administered Huber rehabilitation and general rehabilitation treatment. The control group was given only general rehabilitation treatment. Both treatments were conducted for 30 minutes during each training session, 3 training sessions per week, for 6 weeks. The coordination, balance, and walking ability were evaluated before and after the intervention, to compare the intergroup and intragroup changes. RESULTS: Change in the right LOS (limit of stability) (p < .001) and forward LOS (p < .02) following intervention were significantly greater in the experimental group than in the control group, but no significant group difference was observed between left LOS (p > .1) and backward LOS (p > .2). Alterations in coordination (p < .02) and TUG (p <. 05) were significantly greater after intervention in the experimental group than in the control group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that HUBER rehabilitation is effective in improving the coordination, balance, and walking ability in stroke patients. To strengthen and validate the results of this study, future studies related to HUBER rehabilitation are required.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.152-162
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• 2024

Objective: This study was conducted to analyze the effect of wearable Electromyography-controlled functional electrical stimulation (EMG-controlled FES) System on Gait Function and cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency during walking in older adults. Design: Cross-section study Methods: Total 22 older adult participants suitable to selection criteria of this study participated in this study. The EMG-controlled FES System, which functions as a wearable physical activity assist FES system was used. All participations performed randomly assigned two conditions (Non-FES assist [NFA], FES assist [FA]) of walking. In all conditions, spatio-temporal parameters and kinematics and kinetics parameters during walking was collected via 3D motion capture system and 6 minutes walking test (6MWT) and metabolic cost during walking and stairs climbing was collected via a portable metabolic device (COSMED K5, COSMED Srl, Roma, Italy). Results: In Spatio-temporal parameters aspects, The EMG-controlled FES system significantly improved gait functions measurements of older adults with sarcopenia at walking in comparison to the NFA condition (P<0.05). Hip, knee and ankle joint range of motion increased at walking in FA condition compared to the NFA condition (P<0.05). In the FA condition, moment and ground reaction force was changed like normal gait during walking of older adults in comparison to the NFA condition (P<0.05). The EMG-controlled FES system significantly reduced net cardiopulmonary metabolic energy cost, net energy expenditure measurement at stairs climbing (P<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that EMG-controlled FES is a potentially useful gait-assist system for improving gait function by making joint range of motion and moment properly.

• Clinical Pain
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.31-35
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• 2019

Plantar heel pain is a common clinical problem in foot and ankle clinics. Typically, several conditions such as plantar fasciitis, fat pad atrophy, and calcaneal fracture may lead to plantar heel pain. However, subcalcaneal bursitis occurred between plantar fascia and plantar fat pad has rarely been described as a cause of plantar heel pain. To our knowledge, subcalcaneal bursitis has been reported only once, but there was no mention of preceding factors. We firstly present a case of subcalcaneal bursitis occurred after excessive walking exercise known as "Nordic walking" and successfully managed with conservative treatments that relieve impact on plantar heel.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.32-37
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• 2015

Objective: This study was conducted to test the effects of mobile texting and gaming on gait with obstructions under different illumination levels. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Twelve healthy adults aged 20 to 36 years (mean 23.5 years) were tested under six different conditions. All participants used touchscreen smartphones. Testing conditions included: 1) Walking with an obstruction under a bright illumination level; 2) walking with an obstruction with a low level of illumination; 3) walking with an obstruction while texting under a bright illumination level; 4) walking with an obstruction while texting with a low level of illumination; 5) walking with an obstruction while gaming under a bright illumination level; and 6) walking with an obstruction while gaming with a low level of illumination. All participants were asked to text the Korean national anthem by their own phone and play Temple Run 2 using an iPhone 5. Gait variances were measured over a distance of 3 m, and the mean value after three trials was used. A gait analyzer was used to measure the data. Results: Compared to normal gait with obstruction, gait speed, step length, stride length, step time, stride time, cadence while texting and gaming showed significant differences (p<0.05). Differences between the illumination levels included gait speed, step length, stride length, and step time (p<0.05) with no significant differences in stride time and cadence. Conclusions: Dual-tasking using a smartphone under low levels of illumination lowers the quality of gait with obstructions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.523-529
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• 2020

Foot drop is a common symptom in stroke patients due to central nervous system (CNS) damage, which causes walking disturbances. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is an effective rehabilitation method for stroke patients with CNS damage. Aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of 6 weeks FES walking training based lower limb muscle synergy of stroke patients. Lower limb muscle synergies were extracted from electromyography (EMG) using a non-negative matrix factorization algorithm (NMF) method. Cosine similarity and cross correlation were calculated for similarity comparison with healthy subjects. In both stroke patients, the similarity of leg muscle synergy during walking changed to similar to that of healthy subjects due to a decrease in foot drop during. FES walking intervention influenced the similarity of muscle synergies during walking of stroke patients. This intervention has an effective method on foot drop and improving the gait performance of stroke patients.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.44-53
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• 2004

Treadmill training is a new promising therapy in gait rehabilitation of patients with hemiplegia. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of treadmill training on walking speed and gait endurance in patients with chronic hemiplegia. The subject of this includes twenty patients, who had suffered from chronic hemiplegia and were in the K rehabilitation center; each ten patients were randomly assigned to experimental or control group. Among twenty patients, one group of ten for experiment was treated with progressive speed increase treadmill ambulation traing besides conventional physical therapy(SITAT) while the rest ten for the controlled group was treated with conventional physical therapy(CPT) only, for 8 weeks alike. Before and after the foregoing 8 weeks training, walking velocity and gait endurance were measured to both groups. The data were analyzed by paired t-test. The results of this study are as follows; The SITAT and CPT showed the significant difference in walking velocity and gait endurance. As compared the rehabilitation of dependent varibles between the SITAT and CPT, SITAT showed the significant difference in walking velocity and gait endurance. The outcome suggest that patient with chronic hemiplegia can improve their walking velocity and gait endurance throught treadmill training.