[Purpose] The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of motor imagery training for trunk movements on trunk muscle control and proprioception in stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] A total of 12 study subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental group (a motor imagery training group) and the control group (a neurodevelopmental treatment, NDT) group. The two groups were treated five times (30 minutes each time) per week for 4 weeks. The experimental group underwent imagery training for 10 minutes and trunk control centered NDT for 20 minutes and the control group underwent only trunk control centered NDT for 30 minutes. The trunk muscle activity and the position sense of the subjects were evaluated before and after the intervention. [Results] The two groups showed significant improvements in muscle activity after the intervention. Only the experimental group showed significant improvements in proprioception. The experimental group showed significant improvements in the variations of muscle activity and proprioception compared to the control group. [Conclusion] Motor imagery training for trunk movements can be effectively used to improve trunk muscle activity and proprioception in stroke patients.

To determine the effect of weight ball throw training as a preparatory exercise before golf practice for 8 weeks on back muscle strength, weight shifting of lower body, head speed of club, and driving distance of amateur golfers.

Along with advancements in science and technology, anthropometric measurements using electronic devices have become possible, and research is being actively conducted on this topic. Recently, devices using Bluetooth that are portable because of their small size have been developed to allow real-time measurements and recording. This study investigated the concurrent validity and intra-trial reliability of a recently developed Bluetooth-embedded inertial measurement unit. Thirty-seven healthy, young adult participants (age = 22.1±1.2 years, height = 166.8±1.6 cm, mass = 61.9±12.3 kg) were included in the study. The knee extension angles during active knee extension were measured for validity, using both the Bluetooth-embedded inertial measurement unit and the standard goniometer. Intra-trial reliability was tested for consistency during repeated measurements. The intra-class correlation coefficients value for the concurrent validity between the Bluetooth-embedded inertial measurement unit and standard goniometer was 0.991, and the values for the intra-trial reliability of the two devices were 0.973 and 0.963, respectively. Based on its high validity and reliability, the Bluetooth-embedded device may be useful for evaluating functional impairment and exercise performance ability by real-time measurements of joint ranges of motion in clinical rehabilitation or sports fields.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the concurrent validity and inter-and intra-rater reliabilities of smart device based application, against force platform-based portable device Wii balance board (WBB) measurements for the flight time and jump height during the vertical jump. Material and methods: Thirty participants (23.8 ±3.41 years) completed three vertical jumps, which were evaluated using WBB and application for smart device. To assess the concurrent validity, jump height and flight times were obtained from each device. Inter-and intra-rater reliabilities were determined by replicating data analysis of smart device based application recordings. Results: Flight time and jump height collected from smart device based application showed excellent agreement level with WBB (flight time and jump height: ICC [2,1]=0.972). However mean flight time and jump height from the smart device based application was significantly higher than WBB (mean difference: 0.006 sec, 0.745 cm, p < 0.05). Intra-rater sessions showed good level of agreement (flight time: ICC [2,1] = 0.967, jump height: ICC [2,1] = 0.974), and inter-rater session showed almost perfect reliability (flight time: ICC [2,1] = 0.985, jump height: ICC [2,1] = 0.987). Conclusions: Smart device-based applications could be used to replace pressure-based portable devices for clinical evaluations in post-injury rehabilitation as well as evaluating sports performance.

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