Hand Rehab Tools for (stroke or Injury)

This instructable was developed due to a stroke I had on March 28th. I lost
ALL movement of my left side (leg, arm & hand). After 2 surgeries and some
rehab I have movement on my left side again (still weak but, moving).

The movement and strength of my hand and fingers are very slow to come
back. After one of my days at rehab, I was looking for someway I could
practice and measure my progress at home. I looked over at my printer
and desided to design and print the tools to fit my needs.

The designing would help my strengthen my keyboard skills,
I have very limited individual finger control.
Plus I wanted to do some printing, I hadn't printed anything for a month
and I was having printer withdrawal I miss seeing my printer work.

A simple task like stacking cubes can be a huge challenge. (see video in step 5)

All printing was done at 15% infill.
Some parts have support designed in that will need to be removed
later. You can Mirror the files if needed for other hand. I have included
the sketchup files, so you can edit them to fit for your needs.

Hope this can help some one with similar challenges, set small goals and they
will add up. Don't get discouraged. I will be adding more to this instructable
as new challenges come up and ideas develop. A new idea, I need
to work on, is a way to load filament in to the extruder, It is(difficult to grasp
filament and move Idler and rotate hobbed bolt at same time) .

I am not a doctor or therapist, I am a "stroke survivor" this rehab tool
has been cleared by my therapist for my use. Check with your
therapist, if you have any concerns before using this instructable.

I have entered this in the 3d Printer contest if You like this
instructable please Vote, {thank you!}

I also want to thank Maxiumx for his help in modleling the pinch meter.

The cube is 30 x 30 x 20mm.
This can be scaled to your desired size.
I have found wrapping the cube with painters tape will make a textured surface
and easier to grab. (putting the tape on the block was not easy either)

I am starting by stacking the blocks using the 30 x 30mm side
and advancing to the 20mm side as my grip gets better.
I will scale the cubes down as I master the previous sizes.

The 3 finger pinch cube helps guide thumb, middle
finger and index finger into place for picking up the cube.

The 2 pin blocks are 30 x 60 x 20 mm.

The 4pin blocks are 60 x 60 x 20 mm

After printing remove the support material on the bottom of pin(s).

Like the cubes, the blocks can be scaled to your desired size.
The blocks do not lock together, the pins help keep the blocks
in place as you stack them.

Print as many as you want for building your towers, walls etc.

There is also a single block file that can be modified to make longer blocks.

Print one hand brace and as many finger braces as you want to use at one time.
I am using the hand brace to isolate exercising the finger and a joint in each
finger. I want to exercise. Working on finger strength to improve keyboard
skills. When I try to move one finger, two or more fingers will move,
which adds unwanted letters to words.

Position the finger brace in the hand brace slot above the finger you want to work .
Place a rubber band around the finger brace and above your the finger joint.
you want to exercise. In the picture I am working on index finger 2nd joint.

Start with a weak rubber band and work up to stronger ones. Do not hurt
yourself. As I have been reminded it takes time to improve strength and skills,
This can be frustrating at times, but I am thankful for to recovery I have so far!

Print the parts of the meter asemble using the pictures above

This meter does not give you a accurate measurement of strength but a
bench mark of what you can do today. After you squeeze the lever the
slide will stay in place until you manually reset it to"" 0".

Then you can test your self again after exercising or the following day and
see if you can improve your previous results. Once you max out the meter.
add another rubber band or a stronger one to increase
the resistance. try it again.

Happy testing. Do not over do it. and hurt yourself. If your condition is similar
to mine ( I can barely grasp and hold a piece of a paper) Seeing small
improvements is positive feedback that I am improving!

Videos of assembling Pinch Meter, Stacking Blocks
an using the Hand and Finger Brace.