Durham students using 3D printers to create pros­thetic hands for children

DURHAM -- Durham Tech students are using 3D printers to create prosthetic hands for children.

More than a half-dozen students are assisting as a part of The Helping Hand Project’s chapter at Durham Tech, which creates prosthetic hands for the Chapel Hill-based nonprofit for children born with a condition that causes problems with limb development.

Often, prosthetic hands are expensive and children outgrow them. But the Durham Tech students are providing them with this need while learning about 3D printing.

The first hand took two weeks to print and put together. Last year, the chapter, which meets weekly during the fall and spring semester to practice and test prototypes, got a $2,000 grant from the Durham Tech Foundation last fall for the printer.