歩行車の動特性が被歩行補助者の筋活動に与える影響に関する一考察

抄録

In this study, we aimed to elucidate the effect of differences in the viscous load of wheeled–walkers used in rehabilitation on joint movements, muscle activities of the lower extremity, the trunk acceleration, and the trunk angular velocity. The viscous load applied to users was generated by a mechanism that can generate the viscous load according to the movement velocity of the wheeled–walker mounted in front of the wheeled–walker. Twelve young healthy male subjects were instructed to wear an orthosis on the right knee joint to imitate the walking behavior of a patient with a limited range of motion in the knee joint, and to walk with restricted change in the right knee joint angle. From the experimental results, we observed that the effect of the difference in the viscous load on the walking velocity and muscle activities of lower extremity muscle groups differed depending on the recent exercise frequency. Some subjects with low exercise frequency in recent years showed an increase in the hip extension angle and a decrease in the muscle activities of the lower extremity muscle groups in response to an increase in viscous loads. On the other hand, we observed that subjects with a high exercise frequency could maintain their walking velocity by increasing the muscle activity of the lower extremity muscle groups in response to increased viscous load. The maximum viscous load applied on the subjects in the experiment was 5.9 N, which can be easily presented to the patients, even in rehabilitation. Therefore, we believe that the results obtained in this experiment can be utilized in rehabilitation intended for patients with a limited range of motion.