Mairi Therese Deighan
Co-designing, Developing and Evaluating a Virtual Reality Experience for Teenagers and Young Adults with Cancer
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Supervisors:
Email: mairi.deighan@bristol.ac.uk Twitter: @mairi_deighan |
Project Summary:
I have a keen interest and passion for virtual reality technologies, particularly their applications in healthcare. My PhD therefore aims to investigate the potential use of virtual reality in assisting teenagers and young adults with cancer.
This research will take a co-design approach where teenagers and young people with cancer will take an active role in designing and evaluating a novel virtual reality experience. The VR experience will target areas across the oncology clinical pathway, identified by the young people, that could potentially benefit from such an experience. Throughout this process, I am keen to assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a virtual experience developed through co-design within the NHS. This will contribute to the secondary aim of the project; to inform future VR design and implementation strategies in paediatric oncology within the NHS. This will also be achieved by engaging with clinicians and stakeholders from Great Ormond Street Hospital to help provide insight into the current challenges hindering the development and deployment of VR technologies in paediatric oncology.
General Profile:
I graduated in June 2020 from the University of Strathclyde with an MEng in Biomedical Engineering (Distinction). Throughout my 5 years at Strathclyde, I developed a multitude of skills in mathematics, electronics, physiological systems, immunology, biomechanics, instrumentation and medical device regulations. I have a keen interest in harnessing these skills to merge healthcare and digital technologies within the NHS.
For my undergraduate dissertation I developed and tested a localised hearing test within a virtual environment. This involved coding a series of standardised hearing tests in three different spatialised sound rendering engines and conducting a participant trial to assess each one. During the project I gained considerable expertise in the field of audiology and virtual reality design. My master’s research project involved the design, fabrication and testing of a novel microfluidic device, used for assessing drug efficacy on cancer spheroids.