CETEM revolutionises rehabilitation with the therapeutic 3D puzzles of the D3PO project
CETEM seeks to revolutionise rehabilitation in the field of active ageing and cancer patients through 3D printing.

In recent months, CETEM has held two workshops to test the D3PO puzzles, a European project coordinated by the Asociación de Personas con Lesión Medular y Otras Discapacidades Físicas de Castilla y León (Association of People with Spinal Cord Injury and Other Physical Disabilities of Castilla y León). The aim of this Erasmus+ project is to create 3D printable puzzles and jigsaw puzzles that can be used as an individual or team therapeutic tool in the field of rehabilitation and social inclusion.
At the beginning of October, the first workshop was held with a group of 31 people at the ‘Las Herratillas’ Senior Citizens’ Centre. The participants had the opportunity to try out three of the 10 puzzles developed in the framework of the D3PO project. CETEM selected the first of these target groups with the aim of promoting active ageing through the puzzles developed in the project. Brain teasers and puzzles give older people the opportunity to use their critical thinking and problem solving skills, as the left side of our brain is logical and works in a linear way, while the right side is creative and intuitive.
In addition, CETEM organised two more workshops during the months of October and November at the facilities of the Yecla Association of Cancer Patients and their Families, where a total of 8 participants had the opportunity to test four other puzzles. This target group was chosen by CETEM due to the suitability of the puzzles developed in the project for physical and neurological rehabilitation in cancer patients, especially with regard to cognitive impairment associated with the neurological toxicity effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, and also to the effects of lymphedema, which is accompanied by stiffness, pain, loss of mobility and difficulty in the mobilisation and flexibility of the arm, especially in the hand or wrist.
The D3PO project ends on 31 January, but on its website you can already download the files to be able to 3D print any of the puzzles created by the project partners from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.
