Assistive Technology to Meet the Basic Need to Eat for People With Arthritis

This project is a continuation of another project already available here on Instructables !! Please refer to it before continuing here, thank you !! (Assistive Technology For People With Arthritis)

Arthritis is an illness in wich the principal sympton is the swelling and soreness of one of more joints, the symptoms worsen with age. The soreness and, with time, pain, make every day tasks extremely difficult for those who have it.

For illnesses such as this, technical aids are used to help with day to day tasks, such as eating independently. Modified cutlery sets are used to make this possible. In order to do this project anthropometric measurements were taken into consideration, and given the fact that the most common demographic affected by this disease are adult women those were the ones used:

39: Hand length

40: Palm length

41: Hand wdith

42: Palm width

43: Grip diameter

The present project seeks to benefit those diagnosed with arthritis by allowing them to make their own set of cutlery handles which will be much more comfortable to grasp thatn normal spoon, knife and sets.

For this project you will need:

• 3D printer (any brand) (example in image)
• PLA (Polylactic acid) filament (any brand; any color)
• TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethanes) filament (any brand; any color)
• Commercial set of cutlery (spoon, fork and knife)

To begin with this project we must know what is 3D modeling. 3D modeling is creating a tridimensional representation of an object using different softwares, for this project the chosen software was CATIA and Solidworks. This technology is used by many areas of engineering, and can be used to fabricated very little pieces such as a bolts or massive projects such as planes.

When finished we get the final piece.

The measurements, as mentioned above, were set taking into consideratiom the average measurements of the adult mexican female.

As mentioned before the platform used in the elaboration of this project was CATIA, but the platform Instructables does not support the extension (.CATPart), so the (.stl) files were uploaded (these extensions is the one you'll use to print in 3D), nevertheless a link with the (.CATPart) files is included (CATfiles). Photos are available.

The handles were designed in such a way that the handle is ergonomic and comfortable to use while maintaning a relaxed grip by being thicker than the standard cutlery set handle.

3D printing is the process in wich a digital object comes into the real world. By adding layer upon layer of material the digital soon becomes physical. What once was a niche technology is rapidly becoming an accessible way of prototyping, experimenting and even having fun.

For this project two different types of filaments are required: TPU and PLA. Both chosen because of it's compatible characteristics with the projec.

PLA (characteristics shown above) has the following advantages:

• Environmentally friendly (if disposed of correctly)
• Easy to 3D print
• Safe for use in applications such as food containers and medical devices
• Comes with a wide range of composite and colour options to provide different properties and appearances

TPU (characteristics shown above) has the following advantages:

• Flexibility and durability
• Resistant to abrasion, everyday wear and tear and high impact.
• Resistant to water, heat, oil and certain chemicals.

The sofware used here for the printing was UltiMaker Cura, but as long as the values are similiar the printing will run smoothly in any other printing software. To print the object first you must drag your (.stl) file into the software, preferably with any flat surface touching what would be the bed of the printer.

The next step is setting up the printing process. This project can be printed by anybody using the aforementioned PLA and TPU filaments, but in case you have a 3D printer and want to do it yourself the pictures above provide the settings used to do so. Images 1 to 10 pertain to TPU, images 11 to 20 are for PLA.

In the case of the UltiMaker Cura software the next step would be to slice the piece, other programs allow you to directly save as a G code. Which is the programming language which will give the printer the instructions on how to print your piece. You can see an example of a very simple G Code program above.

Once all of the above is ready, the piece is ready to be printed !!

A few hours laters your have your piece in your hands !! Fair warning you might have to do a little very light-handed sanding to the newly printed piece.

NOTE: TPU is a very delicate material, so make sure to use the settings provided, the printing process could have problems. A little advice is to always make a small piece just to test out your settings, like the little cube shown in the picture.

Once the pieces are finished, you can use almost any cutlery set in your home with them by inserting the utensils in the slots !!