Our client, Birkdale Paediatric, tasked our seven-person design cohort with improving the post-stroke rehabilitation process, specifically for patients who lost motor control in their hands. Through our research, we learned that current rehab methods were unmotivating and invasive for the patient, and incredibly intensive for the physical therapist. Our solution needed to incentivize patients to do their therapy exercises, be simple to set up and use, be affordable, and prioritize safety and comfort.

The first part of our solution was creating a device that fit all those metrics. Over the course of a month, our cohort iterated over several models, refining our designs to enhance comfort and ease of use. At roughly 100 euros, the final prototype was a modified blood pressure cuff that could be rolled up and inserted into the patient's clenched hand. The physical therapist would then inflate the cuff, opening the patient's hand non-invasively.