In this paper, a deburring tool with 3-axis compliance is presented for deburring using a robot manipulator. Compliance is provided with beam structures instead of pneumatic pressure, which enables integrated 3-axis force sensing and variable stiffness. Two radial compliances were achieved using 4-PSS (Prismatic-Spherical-Spherical) legs, with P joints composed of cantilever beams. The one axial compliance was configured with two ball bushings and a linear spring. Strain gauges were attached to cantilever beams and a load cell was mounted between the linear spring and the universal joint to perform force sensing. The stability of vibrations and force sensing were verified through deburring experiments using the proposed deburring tool. Additionally, experiments on automatic offset for applying a constant force during deburring were conducted and results were validated by comparing the workpiece before and after the deburring process.

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of artificial unloading induced by hindlimb suspension on the trabecular bone in tibiae. Twenty four 12-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to 3 groups, namely, the control group (CON, n = 8), the hindlimb-suspended group (HLS, n = 8) and HLS with partial vibration group (HLSPV, n = 8). After 4 weeks, compared with CON group, HLS group had significantly greater decreases on BMD, BV/TV, Tb.N, Conn.Dn and increase on Tb.Sp (p < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in BMD and the other micro structural parameters of tibial trabecular bones between CON and HLSPV (p > 0.05). These results implied that partial vibration might inhibit the bone loss induced by hindlimb suspension. Furthermore, we could expect to apply partial vibration system in space environment, to prevent bone loss in astronauts.

The pharmacological therapies and whole body vibration as non-pharmacological therapies were known to have adverse side effects. Therefore, partial stimulation was suggested and its effects were evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate the site-specific effects of partial stimulator for treatment of osteoporosis induced by estrogen deficiency. Sixteen virginal Sprague-Dawley rats (12 weeks old) were divided into 2 groups(no stimulation, stimulation groups). All rats were ovariectomised to induce osteoporosis. After 3 weeks of operation, the right tibiae in rats of stimulation group (frequency: 10Hz, cycle: 1500, strain on bone surface: 2000με) were stimulated perpendicularly at right tibia by using partial stimulator for 6 weeks (3days/week). The right tibiae in rats were scanned, before stimulation (0 week) and at 6 weeks after stimulation by using invivo micro computed tomography. For investigation of changes in morphological characteristics, structural parameters were measured and calculated. At 6 weeks the morphological characteristics (relative value) in stimulation group were significantly enhanced than those in no stimulation group (p<0.05). In this study, we find that after 6 weeks of partial stimulation, the morphological characteristics of tibia trabecular bone were enhanced. Thus, we concluded that partial stimulation could be used to treat osteoporosis.

This study evaluated the structure and quality of osteoporotic vertebral bone. To induce osteoporosis, eight rats were ovariectomized (OVX). All rats were divided into two groups (Normal group: 4, OVX group: 4). Total lumbar vertebrae for each rat were scanned by in-vivo μCT at 0, 4 and 8 weeks. Morphological characteristics (BV/TV, Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.Sp and SMI) were calculated by in-vivo μCT image analyzer. Three dimensional finite element models were analyzed to investigate bone strength of OVX and Normal groups. Moreover, the elastic modulus was quantitatively analyzed to evaluate the quality changes of osteoporotic bone. In the OVX group, BV/TV, Tb.Th and Tb.N were significantly decreased at all the lumbar over time (p＜0.05). We also investigated a contrary tendency in Tb.Sp and SMI, compared to the above results in each group. A degree of alteration of mechanical characteristics in OVX group was decreased over measuring time (p＜0.05). Bone quality presented by distribution of elastic modulus was improved in the Normal group more than OVX group. The findings of the present study indicated that both bone structure and quality of whole lumbar could be tracked and detected by analyzing the morphological and biomechanical characteristics of bones, based on a nondestructive method.

This paper presents the analytical stiffness analysis method for a low-DOF planar parallel manipulator. An n-DOF (n＜3) planar parallel manipulator to which 1- or 2-DOF serial mechanism is connected in series may be used as a positioning device in planar tasks requring high payload and high speed. Differently from a 3-DOF planar parallel manipulator, an n-DOF planar parallel counterpart may be subject to constraint forces as well as actuation forces. Using the theory of reciprocal screws, the planar stiffness is modeled such that the moving platform is supported by three springs related to the reciprocal screws of actuations (n) and constraints (3-n). Then, the spring constants can be precisely determined by modeling the compliances of joints and links in serial chains. Finally, the stiffness of two kinds of 2-DOF planar parallel manipulators with simple and complex springs is analyzed. In order to show the effectiveness of the suggested method, the results of analytical stiffness analysis are compared to those of numerical stiffness analysis by using ADAMS.

Pharmacotherapy was mainly used to treat osteoporosis. However, some researches showed that pharmacotherapy could induce unexpected adverse effects. Some studies showed that whole body vibration affected beneficially osteoporosis. This paper studied the effect of whole body vibration for osteoporosis compared with the effect of pharmacotherapy.
10 female rats were used and allocated into 4 group, CON, SHAM, DRUG, and WHY. Rats except SHAM group were ovariectomised to induce osteoporosis. Rats in WHV group were stimulated in whole body vibration at magnitude of 1㎜^peak-peak and frequency 45㎐, for 8 weeks (30 min/day, 5 days/week). Rat in DRGU group was orally administered the Actonel (0.58㎎/㎏), for 8 weeks (5days/week). The 4^th lumbar in rats were scanned at a resolution of 35㎛ at baseline, before stimulation, and 8 weeks after stimulation by In-vivo micro computed tomography. For detecting and tracking changes of biomechanical characteristics (morphological and mechanical characteristics) in lumbar trabecuar bone of rats, structural parameters were measured and calculated from acquiring images and finite element analysis was performed.
In the results, loss of quantity and change of structure of trabecular bone in WBV group were smaller than those in both CON and SHAM groups. In addition, mechanical strength in WBV group was stronger than that in both CON and SHAM groups. In contrast, biomechanical characteristics in WBV group were similar with those in DRUG group.
These results showed that reasonable whole body vibration was likely to treat osteoporosis and be substituted partly for drug treatment.

The disaster from functional gastrointestinal disorders(FGID) has detrimental impact on the quality of life of the affected population. There are, however, rare diagnostic methods for FGID. Our research group identified recently that the gastrointestinal tract well of the patients with FGID became more rigid than that of healthy people when palpating the abdominal regions overlaying the gastrointestinal tract. The objective of the current study is, therefore, to identify feasibility of a diagnostic system for FGID based on ultrasound technique, which can quantify the characteristics above. Two-dimensional finite difference(FD) models(one normal and two rigid models) were developed to analyze the reflective characteristic(displacement) on each soft-tissue layer responded after application of ultrasound signals. Based on the results from FD analysis, the ultrasound system for diagnosis of the FGID was developed and clinically tested via application of it to 40 human subjects with/without FGID who were assigned to Normal and Patient Groups. The results from FD analysis showed that the maximum displacement amplitude in the rigid models(0.12 and 0.16) at the interface between the fat and muscle layers was explicitly less than that in the normal model(0.29). The results from actual specimens showed that the maximum amplitude of the ultrasound reflective signal in the rigid models(0.2±0.1Vp-p) at the interface between the fat and muscle layers was explicitly higher than that in the normal model(0.1±0.0Vp-p). Clinical tests using our customized ultrasound system showed that the maximum amplitudes of the ultrasound reflective signals near to the gastrointestinal tract well for the patient group(2.6±0.3Vp-p) were generally higher than those in normal group(0.1±0.2Vp-p). These findings suggest that our customized ultrasound system using the ultrasound reflective signal may be helpful to the diagnosis of the FGID.

In this paper, two types of novel planar Translational Parallel Manipulators (TPMs) by using parallelogram mechanism are conceived. One is made up of two Pa-P (Parallelogram-Prismatic) legs connecting the base to the moving platform. The other consists of two P-Pa legs, which is the kinematic inversion of the former. Since connecting links in a parallelogram mechanism are subject to only tensile/compressive load and all the heavy actuators are mounted at the base, the proposed manipulators can be applied for planar positioning/assembly tasks requiring high stiffness and high speed. The position, velocity, and statics are analyzed, and the design methodology using prescribed workspace and velocity transmission capability is presented. Finally, two types of prototype manipulators have been developed.

This study investigated changes of mechanical characteristics of the trabecular and cortical bone in the lumbar vertebrae of the ovariectomised (OVX) rat. In previous researches, there were many studies for morphology of osteoporotic bones based on Micro-Computed Tomography (Micro-CI'), However, there were few studies for detecting and tracking changes of mechanical characteristics of the trabecular and cortical bone in the lumbar vertebrae of the OVX rat. For this study, the 4th lumbar of the OVX rat (female Sprague-Dawley) was utilized as a specimen. An OVX rat was scanned at week 0 Oust before surgery), at week 4, and week 8 after surgery. Micro-finite element (μ-FE) analysis was used to investigate mechanical characteristics of the trabecular and cortical bone in the lumbar vertebrae for an OVX rat. When the OVX rat (at week 8) was compared with the OVX rat (at week 0), the structural modulus of cortical and trabecualr bone was decreased by 52％ and 99％, respectively. This study showed the change of mechanical characteristics of cortical bone as well as trabecular bone of an OVX rat. Detecting and tracking changes of mechanical characteristics could greatly contribute to an experiment test for the trabecular and cortical bone in the lumbar vertebrae of an OVX rat by using In-vivo Micro-CT.

In this study, two dimensional and three dimensional finite element models of lower first premolar were analyzed. The mandibular specimen including a premolar was obtained from a cadaver and scanned with micro-CT. Finite element method models were reconstructed from CT images at mid-sagittal plane of the tooth.
Most studies have used a wide range of value(0.07-1000㎫) for elastic modulus of periodontal ligament. The elastic modulus of the periodontal ligament was analyzed by finite element method and compared with that of experiment model. This study indicated that the model without pulp was more suitable than that with pulp in two dimensional finite element analysis.

This study examined the effect of cancellous bone microstructure on stress distribution within a premolar tooth and a dental implant against mastication force by the micro-finite element method (FEM). The mandibular specimen including a premolar was obtained from a cadaver and scanned with micro-CT to obtain CT images. FE models were reconstructed from CT images at mid-sagittal plane of the tooth. Six models were generated and analyzed for different structure and density in cancellous bone. Stress distributions for each implant (or tooth) and the surrounding bone were compared. The study indicated that the microstructure of cancellous bone should be considered in finite element analysis to produce reasonable results and thus implant systems with high success rate.

An insole type local shear force measurement system was developed and local shear stresses in the foot were measured during level walking. The shear force transducer based on the magneto-resistive principle, was a rigid 3-layer circular disc. Sensor calibrations with a specially designed calibration device showed that it provided relatively linear sensor outputs. Shear transducers were mounted on the locations of four metatarsal heads and heel in the insole. Sensor outputs were amplified, decorded in the bluetooth transmission part and then transferred to PC. In order to evaluate the developed system, both shear and plantar pressure measurements, synchronized with the three-dimensional motion analysis system, were performed on twelve young healthy male subjects, walking at their comfortable speeds.
The maximum peak pressure during gait was 5.00kPa/B.W. at the heel. The time when large local shear stresses were acted correlated well with the time of fast COP movements. The anteroposterior shear was dominant near the COP trajectory, but the mediolateral shear was noted away from the COP trajectory. The vector sum of shear stresses revealed a strong correlation with COP movement velocity.
The present study will be helpful to select the material and to design of foot orthoses and orthopedic shoes for diabetic neuropathy or Hansen disease.