BRENHAM STUDENTS MAKE 3-D PROSTHETIC ARM FOR 3RD GRADER

  

A Brenham Elementary School student is the proud new owner of a 3-D printed prosthetic hand and arm thanks to the Career and Technology department at Brenham High School.

Ja’Lea Henderson, a third grader at Brenham Elementary, received her prosthetic hand on Thursday afternoon. Mr. Trenton Hall’s computer programming and practicum students have been working Ja’Lea’s prosthetic hand and arm for over a year.

The prosthetic arm and hand was made using Brenham High School's 3-D printer. The technology allows the piece to be built at a fraction of the cost of the medically-produced ones. A 3-D  printed object is achieved using additive processes. In the additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.

This isn't the first time Brenham High School has used this technology to help a member of the community. Two year old Caedon Olsen received a 3-D prosthetic hand in December of 2014 from Mr. Hall's computer sciences class. Because of his age, Caedon has received a reprinted hand to better suit his growing body. In 2015, Brenham Masonic Lodge presented Mr. Hall with a check for $14,000 to allow his class to purchase a larger and more advanced 3D printer for continued projects.