Abstract
The purposes of this study were to modify the previously reported trunk brace with joints providing resistance force to enhance its wearable functions and to execute kinetic and kinematic analysis of level walking wearing the modified brace. Eight healthy male subjects participated in this study. The study compared walking speed, cadence, trunk and pelvic angle and lower extremity joint moment under three different conditions, which were level walking without any orthosis, with the modified trunk brace and with a juet trunk orthosis. As a result, no change was observed in walking speed, cadence or lower extremity joint moment between level walking without any orthosis and with the modified trunk brace. However, the use of modified brace significantly increased the pelvic anterior tilt angle and slightly decreased the pelvic rotation angle compared to those of without any orthosis. These results suggest that the modified trunk brace has the function of modifying the pelvic tilt angle and this function might be useful to improve the abnormal posture of the patient with low back pain and of elderly people with posterior pelvic tilt.
