Finding out if your partner has an sexually transmitted infection can soon be as easy as knowing your colors. A group of 13- and 14-year-old students just developed a “smart” condom that glows in different colors if it detects a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
Teenage creators Muaz Nawaz, Daanyaal Ali, and Chirag Shah, from London’s Isaac Newton Academy, wanted to “make detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before” without invasive testing.
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Their invention, named the S.T.EYE (pretty clever), nabbed them the top health innovation prize at the city’s TeenTech Awards, which are intended to promote science, engineering, and technology in schools. At the competition, kids ranging from 11-years-old to 16 attempt to create “technology to make life better, simpler or easier.”
The condom uses a built-in indicator that changes to a different color depending on the bacteria or infection it detects. The students said it may glow green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus, or blue for syphilis.
According to BuzzFeed, Molecules in the condom attach to the bacteria of common STIs, causing the contraception to fluoresce in low light.
“We wanted to make something that make detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before, so that people can…
…take immediate action in the privacy of their own homes without the invasive procedures at the doctors,” 14-year-old Ali said. “We’ve made sure we’re able to give peace of mind to users and make sure people can be even more responsible than ever before.”
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect people of all backgrounds and economic levels. Yet African-Americans have high rates of many common STIs. Compared to white women, African-American women have:
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