Date of Award

6-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Santa Clara : Santa Clara University, 2026

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Michael Abbott

Abstract

Stroke survivors often struggle to regain grip strength and hand mobility due to limited access to physical therapy, lack of progress tracking during independent rehabilitation sessions, and reduced motivation from slow or unmeasured progress. There is a need for more effective rehabilitation approaches, as current at-home strengthening tools do not provide quantitative feedback or adjustable resistance, and clinical devices are expensive. This makes it challenging for patients and their physical therapists to guide recovery and monitor improvement effectively. To address these obstacles, we developed a low-cost, customizable grip-strengthening device that tracks patient progress and assists in regaining strength and mobility through repetitive training. An analysis of customer needs was performed through a combination of background research on current commercial products and interviews with physical therapists and rehabilitation patients. The collected data were used to create system requirements for sensing accuracy, resistance range, device portability, and comfort. Weighted trade-off analyses regarding cost, comfort, and effectiveness were performed on multiple design alternatives and utilized to create the proposed solution. The proposed solution is composed of three subsystems: framing, sensing, and resistance variability. The final design resembles a digital dynamometer with internal strain gauges to measure grip force, a position sensor to measure range of motion, a preloaded spring on a lead screw to provide adjustable resistance, and the ability to export grip force and position data for analysis. The device is able to measure grip force ranging from 0-16 lbs with an average error under 5%, provide a resistance range of 0-8 lbs, provide a handle position with full scale output of under 5%, and weighs less than 2 kg for user comfort and portability. Overall, this device and its features aid in addressing the current challenges with stroke rehabilitation by providing patients with personalized recovery and supplying physical therapists with metrics on patient progress. Recommendations for future work include developing a user-friendly interface to view the collected data and integrating a motor to turn the leadscrew automatically.

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