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In this study, lift chair was developed to reduce safety accidents in the daily lives of elderly people with reduced muscle strength as the importance of health and well-being of the elderly was emphasized by the increase in the elderly population. In addition, muscle strength characteristics of the elderly and those in their 20s were compared and analyzed when using lift chair. The lift chair used are chairs that can be raised and lowered and designed to reach the floor in full descent. The EMG was measured to compare the near-term use of lift chair to those in their 20s. As a result, the elderly had higher use of lower limb muscles compared to young participants. It was judged that the upper and lower extremities were difficult to move due to the characteristics of the elderly with reduced muscle strength, and that the upper and lower limbs were used simultaneously to complete the movement. The results showed the characteristics of everyday motion of the elderly for the development of lift chair and can help improve design, function, etc. in later development of lift chair.

People with severe disabilities require support in performing activities of daily living (ADL), from personal care to technological support. For people with disabilities, digital healthcare is effective in improving their ability to perform ADLs. This study aimed to identify factors associated with the digital healthcare needs of people with severe disabilities in ADL. Qualitative data were collected from in-depth individual interviews and focus group interviews from 16 participants. Transcripts of interviews were then analyzed, and the essential factors were identified. Twenty-eight difficulty factors related to ADL were defined according to the type of disability. Factors requiring digital healthcare were specified in accordance with the qualitative analysis performed on the interview results. Appropriate tasks were established according to disability, such as posture control and emergency management for individuals with cervical spinal injury; communication and posture control in adults with cerebral palsy; communication and toileting monitoring for parents of children with disabilities; and emergency management, breathing exercise, and oxygen saturation management for individuals with muscular dystrophy. All factors identified in the study conform to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) codes. This study will contribute toward understanding the needs of people with severe disability in terms of digital healthcare.

An exoskeleton is a wearable robot with joints and links corresponding to those of the human body. With applications in rehabilitation medicine, virtual reality simulation, and teleoperation, exoskeletons offer benefits for both disabled and healthy populations. Analytical and experimental approaches were used to develop, integrate, and study a powered exoskeleton for the upper limb and its application as an assistive device. The kinematic and dynamic dataset of the upper limb during daily living activities was one among several factors guiding the development of an anthropomorphic, seven degree-of-freedom, powered arm exoskeleton. Additional design inputs include anatomical and physiological considerations, workspace analyses, and upper limb joint ranges of motion. Proximal placement of motors and distal placement of cable-pulley reductions were incorporated into the design, leading to low inertia, high-stiffness links, and back-drivable transmissions with zero backlash. The design enables full glenohumeral, elbow, and wrist joint functionality. Establishing the human-machine interface at the neural level was facilitated by the development of a Hill-based muscle model (myoprocessor) that enables intuitive interaction between the operator and the wearable robot. Potential applications of the exoskeleton as a wearable robot include (i) an assistive (orthotic) device for human power amplifications, (ii) a therapeutic and diagnostics device for physiotherapy, (iii) a haptic device in virtual reality simulation, and (iv) a master device for teleoperation.

Background: Transfers are very important in functional activities of subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI). The transfer assessment instrument (TAI) was the first tool to standardize the assessment of transfer technique.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish the reliability and validity of TAI 3.0 in people with SCI in early rehabilitation phase.

Methods: Thirty subjects with acute traumatic SCI were recruited from a tertiary care center for SCI management. Four raters assessed the quality of transfer using TAI 3.0 and a fifth rater used global assessment of transfer scale (VAS). TAI 3.0’s intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for intrarater and interrater reliability, standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), limits of agreement and concurrent validity was determined.

Results: The intrarater ICC was 0.93 to 0.98 and interrater ICC was 0.99, indicating high levels of reliability. The SEMs among the raters for TAI 3.0 total was from 0.23 to 0.28. The MDC among the raters TAI 3.0 total was from 0.54 to 0.86. Correlation for different raters between the TAI 3.0 and VAS ranged between 0.88 and 0.90.

Conclusion: TAI 3.0 is a reliable and valid tool to assess the transfer skill in individuals with SCI in early rehabilitation phase.

Back pain can affect up to 65% of the American population and cost the health care system approximately fifty billion dollars each year. Due to the difficulty with recording spine/trunk movement, several methods and models exist. The myriad of methods and the need for understanding of spine/trunk motion has led to a lack in a ‘gold-standard’ of treatment for individuals with back pain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different activities of daily living on the kinematics of individual trunk segments in young adults to determine how common ambulatory tasks will alter trunk motion compared to level walking.

Young healthy adults completed, in a random order, four activities of daily living: level walking, obstacle crossing, stair ascent and descent using a previously validated model. Subjects were outfitted with a full body marker set which included a segmented trunk. Multi-segmented trunk angles between the three inferior segments, sacrum to lower lumbar [SLL], lower lumbar to upper lumbar [LLUL] and upper lumbar to lower thorax [ULLT], were calculated and compared between tasks. Peak flexion angles, instance of peak angle and range of motion were analyzed.

The overall hypothesis that different spine levels will have altered kinematics during various activities of daily living was supported. Stair descent had smaller peak flexion angles than obstacle crossing and stair ascent. The instance of peak angle were different depending on trunk angle and daily task. The most inferior trunk angle — Sacrum-to-Lower Lumbar — had the largest range of motion during all four tasks in all three (sagittal, frontal and transverse) planes of motion.

This study was able to show how various activities of daily living produce different motions in the three inferior segments of a multi-segmented trunk method. The results of this study are the first steps in understanding how the trunk responds on a daily basis and how those responses could lead to back pain.