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Posted on Jun 01, 2005, 10 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
A blood test is a simple procedure, but it's not always easy, especially when the patient has tiny veins that make it painful to draw blood. Now, a new device makes it much simpler, by actually shining a video image of the patient's veins on top of the skin. It makes it possible to take the guesswork out of blood tests, along with the pain
A blood test is a simple procedure, but it's not always easy, especially when the patient has tiny veins that make it painful to draw blood. Now, a new device makes it much simpler, by actually shining a video image of the patient's veins on top of the skin. It makes it possible to take the guesswork out of blood tests, along with the pain.
The tiny veins in Heather Lurie's arms make getting blood drawn a dismal experience.
Heather Lurie, patient: "The doctors and technicians just seemed to have a really difficult time finding a good vein. And then when they went after it, a lot of the time they would miss."
But Heather's days of painful pricks may soon be over, thanks to a new device developed by biomedical engineers. It's called a vein contrast enhancer.
Herbert Zeman, Ph.D. / biomedical engineer: "Our device can see through fat, and can see small veins, very nicely - and therefore can make those veins visible."
The skin is first illuminated with near-infrared light from a camera lens. Then the image is fed to a computer that uses software to map the image onto a bright green background. Finally, the computer feeds the image to a projector that beams it onto the skin.
Herbert Zeman, Ph.D. / biomedical engineer: "This device makes everybody easy to stick, because you can see their veins with your eyes, and you can stick by sight."
The device is great for small kids too, whose baby fat can make finding veins even more difficult. They might even enjoy watching the spooky green image.
Herbert Zeman, Ph.D. / biomedical engineer: "We can find the veins much more accurately, much quicker, with fewer misses."
Heather likes the idea of fewer misses, because traditional methods - which use touch to find elusive veins - sometimes leave her hurting.
Heather Lurie, patient: "If they miss the vein the first time and they have to dig, there's always a bruise."
For people like Heather, aiming and hitting the right vein the first time can make all the difference in the world.
The device already has FDA approval, and now researchers are working on making it more portable. They expect it to be used mostly in large, pediatric hospitals where tiny veins are so difficult to find. But someday it may be available for all of us.
The researchers say other vein imaging devices are pricey and don't work as well to show the precise locations of the veins.
