Bearina IUD

This design freaked me out when it crossed my path. It is an intra uterine device-concept by Ronen Kadushin. The image of his real “Bearina’ IUD is what is shown first. It is an open design, available for downloading. It is even possible to order the real thing for 1,25€! It made me question the functionality of the design straightaway. For an IUD it is huge! Imagine pushing a 1 cent coin through a hole, with the diameter similar to the diameter of a matchstick? This is why IUD’s are T-shaped and fold out once inserted. And how about the sterilization of the coin? It is common sense that coins are amongst the dirtiest things to touch. I concluded that the designer must have crossed over the fine line of art with this product.
Ronen Kadushin wants to act against pharmaceutical companies charging exuberant amounts of money, for things that are low-cost in production. He states: ”The Bearina IUD is a political product. It demonstrates the disruptive potential of 3D printed Open Designs to give free and global access to essential products, and circumvent industries (such as the Pharma industry) that aggressively defend their intellectual property to control the price and availability of their products.”
Furtheron he seems serious about the production of the IUD, (“in partnership with a forward-looking pharma company”) once improved and experimented on. For now, the purpose of the ‘Bearina’ -design is to be visually friendly, in order to appeal to younger women. -I am wondering what age these younger women are supposed to be?- And should absolutely not be used as an IUD or for any internal use. With a very clear disclaimer following. Hm, maybe more of a social-project then an art-project, but certainly not a new kind of real IUD -design. I’m so relieved! There’s definitely some love in this....

Found through DEZEEN, with an interesting array of comments on their article.