Design and fabrication of a custom molded splint for tetraplegics

The key rehabilitation goal for cervical cord injury is promoting functional hand movement. Patients with mid to low-level cervical spinal cord injury can achieve the useful tenodesis grasp with the assistance of upper extremity orthosis. In this study, a custom molded writing device was fabricated and applied on cervical cord injured patients with the aim of hand rehabilitation.

A total of fourteen individuals with cervical spinal cord injury at C6-C7 level were recruited for the study. They were divided into two groups, where the experimental group was prescribed with the custom molded writing device and the standard-of-care group was prescribed with the traditionally available writing device. The performance of the devices was evaluated using the Quest 2.0 questionnaire and the quality of writing after an intervention time of 4 weeks.

The group that used custom molded writing device performed comparatively better when compared to the conventional design. The data showed a significant difference with average QUEST scores of 4.47 ± 0.33 for the group using the wrist-driven writing device and 3.04 ± 0.70 for group using the conventional design. For better understanding of the device's performance, the writing with both the splints was also assessed.

A writing device using the tenodesis grasp was fabricated to rehabilitate the writing skills of individuals with cervical spinal cord injuries. The performance of the device provided a favorable result indicating to elaborate the study for future references.