Following the UTT’s first Industrial Design Patent for a novel multi-drafter design, a second Industrial Design Patent (Registration Number: TT/D/2012/00003) was issued on the 1st February 2012 for the Industrial Design of a Physical Therapy Device (Medical Device). The design was created by Mr. Daryl Hosein, Assistant Professor Umesh Persad and Professor Krishna Athre as part of the Design Option in the MSc IIEM (Industrial Innovation, Entrepreneurship And Management). This MSc is delivered within the Design and Manufacturing Engineering Programme at UTT’s O’Meara Campus.

This research includes Medical Device Design, Inclusive Design, and the development of new user interfaces and interaction paradigms. The project looked at the needs of both rehabilitation patients and health care professionals with an eye to address the measurement of patient progress while simultaneously trying to keep the patient motivated during the process.

The Hand Therapy Kit (HTK) developed is in essence a game controller that can be used by patients with reduced hand function to play games on a computer or game console. While the user grasps and presses buttons on the device, the built-in force sensors simultaneously measure force characteristics over time, and this data can be logged for further analysis and reporting. The HTK was also designed to be low cost by utilising various open source hardware and software solutions. The rapid prototyping facilities in the department were utilised to produce physical alternatives for the product form based on plasticine models that were sculpted and tested for user comfort.

The success of this project was largely due to the execution of an iterative, user-centred design methodology. Mr. Hosein worked closely with Doctors and Physiotherapists at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital and Occupational Therapists at Living Well Ltd. to develop and evaluate product concepts. This ensured that the product met the requirements of all user groups. The creators would like to specially acknowledge the assistance and contributions of Dr. Peter Poon-King (Specialist Medical Officer at the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Port of Spain General Hospital, St. James), Ms. Margaret Ryan (Head Physiotherapist at the Port of Spain General Hospital, St. James) and Ms. Lesley Garcia (MS, OTR) of Living Well Ltd.