Background: With the increasing elderly population, the need for gait analysis of these elderly individuals is also increasing. Most devices are costly and not portable; however, smartphones using built-in sensors capable of measuring motion and are easily available. Objectives: To examine the reliability and validity of knee joint angles of the elderly using smartphone measurements during walking. Design: Quasi-experimental research. Methods: Sixteen elderly people, aged 65+ and living in Daejeon and Chungbuk, South Korea, participated in the study. Electrogoniometers and smartphones were attached to the thigh and the side and front of the shank of each subject, respectively, using double-sided tape, an arm band, and an elastic band. Each subject completed two sets of at least seven gait cycles (14 steps). Results: Both the smartphones and electrogoniometers exhibited high agreement in terms of their primary and secondary measurements (ICC>.75). The agreement between the smartphones and electrogoniometers was also high in terms of both the primary and secondary measurements (ICC<.60). Conclusion: These results indicate that smartphones can be costly equipment cannot, even though they cannot completely replace existing clinical-grade devices. Their utility is emphasized herein for measuring knee joint angles of the elderly during walking.

본 논문은 충격을 줄이기 위해 효과적인 충격완충장치를 구성하는 방법을 제안했다. 기존의 충격완충장치는 폴리에틸렌으로만 만들어졌지만, 새로운 충격완충장치는 외측에는 폴리에틸렌, 내측에는 고밀도 재료로 구성하였다. 충격은 내측과 외측 물질 사이의 밀도 차이가 더 클 때 줄어들었다. 2층 구조의 외측으로 설계하기 위해 알루미늄, 티타늄, 구리를 선택하였다. 가장 밀도가 높은 구리에서는 충격 감소가 가장 좋았으며, 기존 충격완충장치보다 최대 감가속도는 43%, 충격량은 51% 감소하였다. 4층, 6층 충격완충장치의 경우, 충격량은 줄였지만, 최대 감가속도는 증가하였다. 신관은 가장 큰 충격으로부터 살아남아야 하며 나머지 충격파는 임계값을 초과하지 않으므로, 본 논문은 폴리에틸렌-구리를 사용한 2층 구조용 충격완충장치를 제안하였다.