As anyone who works at Mighty Studios will tell you, one of the greatest rewards of product development—particularly in the medical field—is when a piece of technology we create improves people’s lives. In the case of Gr!p, a small, handheld smart device Mighty designed for client OrthoRPM, it goes one step further, with the potential to revolutionize the field of hand therapy via this connected, SMART technology solution.
And it does so by handing putty its walking papers.
The team at Mighty relishes the opportunity to help a client realize a vision, and in this case, OrthoRPM had a strong one: to develop a hand-held device that would remotely test, record, and report the grip strength of patients recovering from hand injuries, to their therapists and doctors.
No longer just an idea, Gr!p has hit the market as a connected therapeutical device that measures grip, individual finger, and pinch strength of those undertaking hand rehabilitation. About the size of a bar of soap (it’s available in two sizes, with a second, larger size for bigger hands), Gr!p achieves its key goal of putting control back in the hands of the therapists, creating a true connection between patient and doctor.
But between vision and delivering a fully fleshed-out and user-friendly device to market comes a whole lot of work, and we began by seeking to understand the challenges of and current state-of-the-state with hand therapy. This is where putty—or the shortcomings of it—came into play.
Long accepted as the primary method to deliver therapy to injured hands, the process has been straight forward: a therapist gives the patient a ball of putty (with density varying depending on the injury), the patient squeezes it for a week or so, then comes back the therapist’s office to have grip strength measured with a hand dynamometer. Therapy is then adjusted based on these results. Though effective, putty has its limitations.
First, there’s patient compliance (are they squeezing it every day?); then there’s the putty itself (is the density enough to create improvement?); and finally, putty only works on improving grip strength, with no scope for additional data nor real-time measurement of gains.
In this day and age with all our technology, we have a ball of putty. It doesn’t help the therapists monitoring patient progress, and there’s no device on the market that actually does individual finger data.
Stuart Seymour
CEO & Founder, OrthoRPM
Collaborating closely with OrthoRPM, we set out to bring hand therapy into the future by designing a device with a friendly form factor and approachable design, packed with smart technology, all to provide a connected experience with enhanced metrics for health care providers.
Looking first to gaming controllers and analogous devices for inspiration, and with input from the client, therapists, and doctors, the Mighty team of engineers and designers applied their research learnings and human factor design considerations to the initial concept. This included thinking about things like how the compression motion should work, and determining the ideal finger spacing between the plungers when at rest to ensure comfortable yet effective operation.
Working first with 3-D models, Mighty moved to the next phase, sending 50-60 prototypes out into the field for testing before finally landing on a solution that would measure not just grip strength, but inputs from individual fingers—a data point therapists had not been able to measure before—with the added ability to test pinch strength on a corner of the device.
Like the human hand, Gr!p looks deceptively simple but there’s a lot of complexity under the skin. To measure, track, and report, you need to be able to adjust the compression (resistance) of each plunger as patient strength improves, take and log readings, and then relay that information via Bluetooth to an app which the therapist can then access to monitor and adjust for improvements.
“The device needs to suit people with all levels of hand strength, from somebody who is just initiating their therapy with weak hands, and somebody who’s at the end of their therapy journey with really strong hands,” explains Tark Abed, Founder and Director of Mighty Studios.
“There was no single spring that we could use for each one of the plungers, so it’s a progressive spring rate—firm and light. That allows somebody with very low hand strength to depress the plungers and get a reading, but it also allows somebody who’s got strong fingers to not bottom it out because you don’t get a reading if that happens. Also deciding on what springs go where, because your pinky is nowhere near as strong as your middle finger, and so on.”
With the prototypes validated by therapists, and two sizes (MINI and MAX) to cover the full spectrum of hands, Mighty developed the name and then set about to create all the branding and packaging design. The goal was simple: echo the approachable, friendly feel of the device, by creating a playful tone that promoted health and well-being without feeling too medical.
Our focus was solely on the packaging design, analyzing numerous concepts to fit the brand detail. Ultimately, OrthoRPM opted for bold, modern packaging with a clean, meticulous layout design. We went above and beyond to assist OrthoRPM in creating a visual representation of their new brand and packaging design. We guided their feedback and collaborated with them to develop creative ideas throughout the project.
Gr!p is not Putty 2.0. This small device has big potential, opening up the future in terms of delivering a more tailored therapy process to patients and connecting more directly with doctors during the recovery process. Beyond that, the device looks to uses outside of rehabilitation, with potential applications in the athletic realm already under consideration.
For Mighty Studios, projects like Gr!p provide the chance to show how product design can have a meaningful impact on the world. Helping clients to realize a vision—in this case, one that may improve the lives of those recovering from injury or even help in longevity (grip strength is a good indicator of general health and life expectancy)—is why we love what we do. And it all began with a little ball of soft and pliable material.
Putty, your watch is over. Gr!p can take it from here.