Halifax man building 3D hand for woman in Brazil

A Halifax man is building a a 3D hand for a woman inBrazil he's never met.

JakeBoudreau said he was inspired to build the limb after watching a TED Talks video bye-NABLE, a group of volunteers who buildhands using 3D printers for people in need.

"Basically, she lost her hand in a workplace accident," said Boudreau. "And the company that she was working for kind of found a way out of having to cover the cost of that prosthetic device."

Boudreauhadno medical-technology experience or 3D printing know-how before starting his own chapter of e-NABLE calledKindness 3D. He raised money to buy a 3D printer and taught himself how to use it.

"It was always something I was interested in," said Boudreau.

Boudreau, who works for a logistics firm in Halifax, said his company moved a lot of 3D printers and noticed they were becoming smaller.

"The price has changed too. Now you can get a high quality printer for $500, $600, so that opens up the market to really get involved and start using them," said Boudreau.

After making several prototypes, he recently started printing the hand that will go to Brazil.

Boudreau said he hopes to have the hand in the mail by April 1. He also plans to follow up with the recipient on Skype to see if the hand is working for her. He then plans to build a hand for someone else in need.

"I'm hoping to get some more people and funding available tomyselfso we can keep this project rolling," saidBoudreau.