Only 30% of emergency IVs are successfully started the first time. In these cases, seconds can mean the difference between life and death, and doctors need to focus on saving lives rather than finding veins. In non-emergencies, finding a vein in children or the elderly can be a long and painful process—and it shouldn’t be.
The VeinViewer. A device now available through Christie Medical and found in hospitals throughout the country, the VeinViewer projects the individual pattern of a patient’s veins back onto the skin to make IVs and vascular access easier.
Gunnar Lovhoiden, associate professor of engineering at Andrews University, contributed to the idea of his academic advisor while completing his PhD and successfully produced a functional VeinViewer prototype. Inside the VeinViewer is a ring of lights that shines infrared light onto the skin. The device works by a camera taking a picture, the computer inside the VeinViewer picks up the image, filters and modifies it, and a projector shines it back onto the skin. Because blood absorbs infrared light, the image leaves dark spots where a person's veins are.
