A new University of Limerick Product Design and Technology graduate has made her mark with an innovative final year project tackling healthcare inequality.
Leah Shanahan, from Tralee, Co Kerry, has designed the world’s first fully accessible, multisensory pregnancy test. She was one of 3,678 students graduating from University of Limerick recently.
Inspired by personal experience as a visually impaired woman and driven by the blind women she met throughout the design process, Leah’s design is the first saliva-based, reusable, accessible pregnancy test to deliver results through touch, sight, and sound.
‘AMY’ addresses a practical healthcare challenge through user-centered design with inclusivity at the heart of the product.
The reader uses photosensor technology, similar to that found in digital pregnancy tests. A raised plus or minus symbol on the reader can be felt by touch. It also includes a feature that allows users to tap their phone to open a web page, where they will view a bold red or green symbol along with large, high-contrast text for those who are partially sighted, and users can also choose to hear the result aloud.
When Leah realised that blind and visually impaired women were the only group excluded from the intimate moment of discovering their own pregnancy, she was driven to find a better solution, and AMY was created.
“I wanted to create a product that restores independence and dignity in this experience, using my skills in design and my understanding of accessibility to make a real difference,” Leah said.
Through its considered design, Leah hopes that AMY will help to restore privacy and independence to blind and visually impaired women during the testing process. The multisensory approach ensures that users with different levels of vision or additional disabilities can independently access their results with confidence and dignity.
