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Ultrasound for Ugandan Midwives

Gates Foundation | Kampala and Seattle

My Role
UX Designer and Researcher
Team
Designer, developers, medical experts
Impact
Reduced cognitive load, improved scan accuracy for midwives
Midwife using the ultrasound device

Goal

To develop the UI of an ultrasound device for midwives in low-resource regions, ensuring they could perform scans confidently and accurately while reducing cognitive load during critical tasks.

Where we started

Ultrasound is a safe and effective way to identify pregnancy complications. Unfortunately, the technology is scarce in many regions because of high costs.

From 2010 to 2012, I researched and designed for a portable, low cost ultrasound device to help decrease maternal death rates in rural Uganda.

Research methods

  • Contextual inquiries with radiologists in Seattle hospitals
  • Field trips to Uganda, conducted interviews with Ugandan mothers and midwives working on the front-line to understand their experiences with prenatal care and ultrasound screenings
Field research in Uganda

What we built

Based on research, we built a simplified ultrasound application that utilized an Interson USB probe attached to a netbook. We iterated until radiologists, sonographers, and midwives both in the U.S. and Uganda verified that the device could successfully diagnose the three most common complications.

The device cost was $3,500 using a modular off-the-shelf approach rather than an all-in-one system. We also added an integrated contextual help feature that helped supplement the limited sonography training received by the midwives, helping to answer diagnostic questions when a radiologist isn't available.

Scanning fetus head

Scanning fetus head

Suggested learning topics

Suggested learning topics

Comparing ultrasound images

Comparing ultrasound images

Publications

I co-authored three academic papers:

  • W. Brunette; W. Gerard; M. Hicks; A. Hope; R. Anderson; G. Borriello; B. Kolko; R. Nathan. "Portable Antenatal Ultrasound Platform for Village Midwives." ACM Computing for Development (DEV), December 2010.
  • A. Hope; M. Hicks; W. Gerard; P. Prasad; K. Saville; W. Brunette; L. Ham; J. Keh; R. Anderson; G. Borriello; B. Kolko; R. Nathan. "Designing an Intelligent Medical Assistant for Diagnostic Ultrasound." International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI), February 2011.
  • W. Brunette; M. Hicks; A. Hope; G. Ruddy; R. Anderson; B. Kolko. "Reducing Maternal Mortality: An Ultrasound System for Village Midwives." IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), October 2011.

Impact

  • The UI reduced cognitive load, enabling midwives to perform scans more efficiently and accurately.
  • Usability testing showed improved task completion, increased confidence, and positive feedback.
  • Our work broadened the conversation in the medical community about the need for simplified, lower cost medical technology. GE, Philips, and other medical device companies became aware of our work.
  • Our project advisor Beth Kolko started Shift Labs, a company focused on developing low cost medical technology.

Learn more

For more about this work, watch this TEDx presentation from Beth Kolko.