[Purpose] The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of a virtual reality-based yoga program on middle-aged female low back pain patients. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty middle-aged female patients who suffered from low back pain were assigned to either a physical therapy program or a virtual reality-based yoga program for a period of four weeks. Participants could check their posture and weight bearing on a monitor as they shifted their weight or changed their postures on a Wii balance board. There were a total of seven exercise programs. A 30-minute, three times per week, virtual reality-based Wii Fit yoga program or trunk stabilizing exercise was performed, respectively. [Results] Repeated-measures analysis of covariance revealed significant differences in between pre- and post-training VAS, algometer, Oswestry low-back pain disability index (ODI), Roland Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ), and fear avoidance beliefs questionnaire (FBQ) scores. The VAS, algometer, ODI, RMDQ, and FBQ scores showed significant differences in groups. Regarding the effect of time-by-group interaction, there were significant differences in VAS, ODI, ODI, and FBQ scores. [Conclusion] In conclusion, for middle-aged female patients who have low back pain, a virtual reality-based yoga program was shown to have positive effects on physical improvements, and this program can be employed as a therapeutic medium for prevention and cure of low back pain.

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ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to determine whether the results of fractal analysis can be used as criteria for midpalatal suture maturation evaluation.MethodsThe study included 131 subjects aged over 18 years of age (range 18.1–53.4 years) who underwent cone-beam computed tomography. Skeletonized images of the midpalatal suture were obtained via image processing software and used to calculate fractal dimensions. Correlations between maturation stage and fractal dimensions were calculated using Spearman's correlation coefficient. Optimal fractal dimension cut-off values were determined using a receiver operating characteristic curve.ResultsThe distribution of maturation stages of the midpalatal suture according to the cervical vertebrae maturation index was highly variable, and there was a strong negative correlation between maturation stage and fractal dimension (−0.623, p < 0.001). Fractal dimension was a statistically significant indicator of dichotomous results with regard to maturation stage (area under curve = 0.794, p < 0.001). A test in which fractal dimension was used to predict the resulting variable that splits maturation stages into ABC and D or E yielded an optimal fractal dimension cut-off value of 1.0235.ConclusionsThere was a strong negative correlation between fractal dimension and midpalatal suture maturation. Fractal analysis is an objective quantitative method, and therefore we suggest that it may be useful for the evaluation of midpalatal suture maturation.