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.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the angle of a wedged insole on knee varus torque during walking. Fifteen healthy subjects were recruited. Knee varus torque was measured using three-dimensional motion analysis (Elite). Knee varus torque was normalized to gait cycle (0%: initial contact; 100%: ipsilateral initial contact) and stance phase (0%: initial contact; 100%: ipsilateral toe off). The average peaks of knee varus torque during the stance phase of the gait cycle according to the different insole angles (10 or 15 degrees) were compared using one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. The results showed that in the early stance phase, the average peak knee varus torque increased significantly for both the medial 10 and 15 degree wedged insole conditions and decreased significantly for both the lateral 10 and 15 degree wedged insole conditions as compared with no insole (p<.05). However, there were no significant differences between the 10 and 15 degree wedged insole conditions with either the medial or lateral wedged insole (p>.05). In the late stance phase, the average peak knee varus torque increased significantly for the medial 10 and 15 degree wedged insole conditions (p<.05), but not for the lateral 10 and 15 degree wedged insole conditions as compared with no insole (p>.05). We suggest that these results may be beneficial for manufacturing foot orthotic devices, such as wedged insoles, to control medial and lateral compartment forces in the knee varus-valgus deformity. Further studies of the effects of wedged insole angle on knee varus torque in patients with medial-lateral knee osteoarthritis are needed.

Objectives: To quantify the range of motion of upper limb while eating with and without a universal cuff (UC). Method: The feeding cycle was divided into pre-feeding and feeding phases. The pre-feeding phase was operationally defined as scooping water with a spoon. The feeding phase was operationally defined as bringing the spoon to the mouth. A three-dimensional CMS70P analysis system was used to record upper limb motion during eating activities. Ten male and eight female healthy volunteers participated in this study. Results: (1) in pre-feeding phase: when a spoon without a UC was used, wrist was flexed and shoulder was adducted. However, when a UC with a spoon, the wrist was extended and shoulder was abducted. Also, the range of motions (ROMs) of shoulder flexion and internal rotation were significantly increased (p<0.05). (2) In feeding phase: when a spoon without a UC was used, wrist was flexed and radially deviated. However, when a spoon was used in a UC with a spoon, wrist was extended and ulnarly deviated. The ROMs of forearm supination, shoulder abduction, and external rotation were significantly increased(p<0.05). Conclusion: The ROMs of upper extremities with UC were significantly different from without UC. Therefore, when applying a universal cuff on patients, appropriate ROMs for a universal cuff should be considered prior to OT treatment.

Manual dexterity is often evaluated in rehabilitation because of its contribution to upper limb performance and to individual functional independence. Dexterity depends on age, sex, anthropometric measurements of the hand and sensitivity. The purpose of this study was to compare the finger dexterity with and without wearing different types of gloves (latex gloves and cotton gloves), and to investigate the correlation among the different measurement tools (VALPAR component work samples, O‘conner finger dexterity, and Minnesota grooved pegboard) for finger dexterity. Fifteen healthy young subjects (male: 6, female: 9) had a mean age of 26 years were evaluated. The results were as follows: There was no significant difference in finger dexterity between male and female group at all conditions except for wearing cotton glove condition. The finger dexterity was significant difference in Minnesota grooved pegboard test among conditions(bare hand, latex gloves and cotton gloves). However, finger dexterities were no significant differenece in other tests at different conditions. There was high correlation between measurement tool except for the Size discrimination item in VALPAR test. The results of this study suggest that Minnesota grooved pegboard test maybe a sensitive tool to measure the finger dexterity at sensory constrained conditions.