The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the changes that occur in the leg muscle activity of unstable surface with different levels of air pressures. Three groups of college students have been placed randomly on unstable surfaces with different air pressures at group 1.0 psi (=36), group 1.4 psi (=40), and group 1.8 psi (=40). Using surface electromyography, the recruitment of the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, and the gastrocnemius was measured. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction was measured at the different air pressures based on the manual muscle test, then normalizing the value to %maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). The tibialis anterior muscle activity was significant change from the unstable surface with difference levels of air pressures between group 1.0 psi and 1.8 psi and between group 1.4 psi and 1.8 psi. peroneus longus muscle activity was significant changes in muscle activity occurred between 1.0 psi and 1.4 psi group and between 1.0 psi and 1.8 psi group. Gastrocnemius muscle activity was significant change in muscle activity occurred between 1.0 psi and 1.4 psi group and between 1.0 psi and 1.8 psi group. In conclusion it identify that 1.0 psi group is most effective on muscle activity than the other groups. These suggest that the rehabilitation or strengthening of patients with ankle injuries, balance exercise with low air pressure like 1.0 psi can be more effective.
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a painful condition that arises from e+M8xercise-induced muscle damage after unaccustomed physical activities. Various therapeutic interventions have been applied to reduce the intensity and duration of DOMS-related symptoms. Recently, pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) intervention has been introduced as an alternative noninvasive treatment for DOMS. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment was conducted to examine the effects of PEMF therapy on DOMS in elbow flexors at 24, 48, and 72 hours after the experimental DOMS induction. Thirty healthy volunteers ( yrs, cm, and kg) participated in this study. Each was randomly assigned to a PEMF or placebo group. On the first day, DOMS was induced in the elbow flexors by repeated isokinetic motions at low () and fast () speeds in all subjects. Thereafter, the PEMF group received 15-min daily treatment with a PEMF device. The placebo group received sham treatment of the same duration. Overall, PEMF application was more effective than the sham treatment in reducing the physiological symptoms associated with the DOMS including perceived soreness, median frequency, and electromechanical delay of the surface electromyography. In addition, median frequency and isokinetic peak torque of the PEMF group recovered to the pre-DOMS induction level earlier than the placebo group. In conclusion, this study suggests that PEMF can be applied as a new recovery strategy in reducing DOMS symptoms. Further experiments are required to examine the effect of the PEMF treatment on different types of exercise conditions and to determine the optimal treatment dosage and duration in a real clinical setting.
The purpose of this study was to compare the slouched and upright sitting positions on lumbar joint reposition error (LJRE). Twenty subjects without low back pain were recruited for this study and, using a random number table, were randomly assigned to two groups; the upright sitting position group (UP group) and the slouched sitting position group (SP group). UP group was first asked to sit in an upright position and the SP group to sit in a slouched position as an intervention, and then the LJRE of both groups was measured at the neutral sitting position (lumbar flexion ). The measurement of the LJRE was repeated after one day. The sitting positions were performed for five minutes each and the LJRE was measured using an electronic goniometer. An independent t-test was used to compare the LJRE of both groups after each sitting position and after one day. The results of this study showed that the LJRE after an intervention in the UP group was lower than in the SP group (p<.05) and the LJRE after one day in the UP group was lower than in the SP group (p<.05). The findings of this study indicate that the upright sitting position can be applied to decrease LJRE, compared with the slouched sitting position. These findings also support that the upright sitting position reduces the potential for proprioceptive loss.
This study examined differences in the activity of upper limb muscles according to how an ultrasound head is gripped. Twenty-two adult males were participated in the study. Each participant was asked to apply ultrasound treatment on to a lump of pork meat by two different ultrasound head grip patterns: spherical and cylindrical grips. Muscle activity was measured in the extensor carpi radialis longus (ECRL), flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU), and pronator teres (PT), triceps brachii (TB), middle deltoid (MD), and upper trapezius (UT) muscles. There were no significant differences in the EMG signals of any muscle according to the ultrasound head grip pattern (p>.05). There were significant differences in the EMG signal of each type of muscle (p<.05). The EMG signal of UT was the lowest and that of TB was lower than ECRL and FCU. There were interactions between ECRL and FCU, between ECRL and PT, between FCU and ECRL, and between FCU and MD. The EMG signal of ECRL using the cylindrical head was low and that of FCU with the cylindrical head was high, while the opposite was the case with the spherical head ( <.05/15). The results of this study indicate that the wrist muscles worked actively when the participants applied ultrasound therapy using both spherical and cylindrical heads. A spherical head might induce imbalanced muscle activity among the wrist muscles, leading to deviation of the wrist joint. Therefore, the cylindrical head is recommended for ultrasound therapy because it produced a constant, repeated force.
This study was conducted in order to examine whether abdominal draw-in maneuver (ADIM) with isometric shoulder flexion, extension, adduction, and abduction selectively contracted deep abdominal muscles. This study's subjects were 13 males 17 females. In order to evaluate the comparison of effects of ADIM and ADIM with isometric shoulder flexion, extension, adduction and abduction, measurements were made on transverse abdominis (TrA), internal oblique (IO), and external oblique (EO) using a real-time ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system. Each position was repetitively measured three times with a real-time ultrasonic diagnostic imaging system and their mean values were used for analysis. The ADIM with isometric shoulder flexion, extension, adduction and abduction significantly increased the thickness of TrA relative to the ADIM only (p<.05). The ADIM with isometric shoulder abduction significantly increased the thickness of IO compared to the ADIM only (p<.05). The ADIM with isometric shoulder extension and abduction significantly decreased the thickness of EO compared to the ADIM only and the ADIM with isometric shoulder extension significantly decreased the thickness of EO relative to the ADIM with isometric shoulder adduction (p<.05). ADIM with isometric shoulder abduction is an effective method to selectively strengthen deep abdominal muscles and therefore may be employed as an intervention for trunk stabilization.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of goniometer measurements of the hallux valgus angle (HVA) compared to radiographic measurements, which are the current standard. Twenty subjects (10 female, 10 male) were recruited for this study (40 feet). The HVA of the subjects was measured using goniometer and radiographic measurement. In three trials, measurements were taken of each subject by two examiners using goniometer and radiographic measurements using radiography in a standing position. The reliability of the measurements was investigated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC(3,1)), and the validity was tested using the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and an independent t-test. The intra-rater reliability of left and right HVAs were poor (ICC=.409 and .341, respectively). The inter-rater reliability of left and right HVAs were poor and moderate (ICC=.303 and .501, respectively). Left and right HVAs measured using goniometer and radiographic measurements were also poor and moderate (Pearson r=.246 and .544, respectively). These results suggest that goniometer measurements of the HVA are inaccurate and have unacceptable validity compared to radiographic measurements.
The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability and validity of the postural balance program which uses the movement accelerating field principles of posture balance training and evaluation equipment and smartphone movement accelerometer program (SMAP) in healthy young adults. A total of 34 people were appointed as the subject among the healthy young adults. By using Biodex stability system (BSS) and SMAP on the subject, the posture balance capability was evaluated. For the test-retest reliability, SMAP showed the intra-class correlation (ICC: .62~.91) and standard error measurement (SEM: .01~.08). BSS showed the moderate to high reliability of ICC (.88~.93) and SEM (.02~.20). In the reliability of inter-rater, ICC (.59~.73) as to SMAP, showed the reliability of moderate in eyes open stability all (EOSA), eyes open stability anterior posterior (EOSAP), eyes open stability medial lateral (EOSML) and eyes open dinamic all (EODA), eyes open danamic anterior posterior (EODAP), and eyes open danamic medial lateral (EODML). However, ICC showed reliability which was as low as .59 less than in other movements. In addition, BSS showed the reliability of high as ICC (.70~.75). It showed reliability which was as low as ICC (.59 less than) in other movements. In correlation to the balance by attitudes between SMAP and BSS, EOSML (r=.62), EODA (r=.75), EODML (r=.72), ECDAP (r=.64), and ECDML (r=.69) shown differ significantly (p<.05). However, the correlation noted in other movements did not differ significantly. Therefore, SMAP and BSS can be usefully used in the posture balance assessment of the static and dynamic condition with eyes opened and closed.
The purpose of this study was to assess the intra-rater test-retest reliability of tibial external rotation angle measurement using a smartphone-based photographic goniometer, DrGoniometer (DrG) compared to a three-dimensional motion analysis system (Vicon). The current study showed an interchangeable method using DrG to measure the tibial external rotation angle in standing knee flexion at . Twelve healthy subjects participated in this study. A rest session was conducted 30 minutes later for within-day reliability and five days later for between-day intra-rater test-retest reliability. To assess the validity of the measurement using DrG, we used a three dimensional motion analysis system as a gold standard to measure the angle of tibial external rotation. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and the standard error of measurement (SEM) values were used to determine the within- and between- day intra-rater test-retest reliability of using DrG and a three dimensional motion analysis system. To assess validity, Pearson correlation coefficients were used for two measurement techniques. The measurement for tibial external rotation had high intra-rater test-retest reliability of within-day (ICC=.88) and between-day (ICC=.83) reliability using DrG and of within-day (ICC=.93) and between-day (ICC=.77) reliability using a three-dimentional motion analysis system. Tibial external rotation angle measurement using DrG was highly correlated with those of the three-dimensional motion analysis system (r=.86). These results represented that the tibial external rotation angle measurement using DrG showed acceptable reliability and validity compared with the use of three-dimensional motion analysis system.