the venous imaging device allows nurses to easily draw blood and perform infusion

The image of a masked nurse holding a syringe in her hand is probably a childhood shadow for many friends. If the blood vessels are too thin, when performing intravenous injections, they often pierce the left hand, the right hand, the right hand, and the foot, and they can't pierce the blood vessels for half an hour. It hurts to recall it casually. Or even if you have escaped from "congenital deficiency" and the blood vessels are clear, you may be fat and fat on your hands, which will still bring many difficulties to the nurse's work: the needle pierces the fat, but there is no blood vessel.

If you can see the blood vessels, it will be much easier for nurses to give injections. Scientists have found that human skin has a certain degree of transparency in the near-infrared band, and the subcutaneous tissue and blood vessels reflect the near-infrared differently due to different temperatures and densities.

China's Wuhan unveils a "magic weapon" for injections

Pick up a device that is slightly "fatter" than a TV remote control from the base, aim the light-emitting port at the back of the hand or arm at an appropriate distance, and the veins in the irradiated area will be "projected" on the skin surface immediately, and the thickness, position and direction can be clearly seen. In the special exhibition area of the opening ceremony of Hubei Science and Technology Activity Week, a "magic weapon" made in Optics Valley that visualizes veins and helps nurses easily draw blood and infuse fluids - a vascular imager, attracted the attention and experience of the audience.

Xiao Ang, the developer of this "magic weapon" and a representative of Wuhan Bolian Zhongke, was on the scene to guide citizens on how to clearly "project" veins. He introduced that several nurses came to see it in the morning and projected each hand once, and they almost took a needle and really pierced their own hands to verify the accuracy.

"This vein viewer device mainly utilizes the principle that the absorption rate of near-infrared light by hemoglobin in blood vessels is different from that of other tissues. Through a series of digital image processing, the subcutaneous blood vessels are projected in situ on the skin surface, allowing doctors and nurses to clearly identify the 8-10 mm deep veins under the patient's skin." He said that at present, only a few companies in China can develop and produce such products. It is particularly suitable for patients whose veins are difficult to identify and difficult to puncture, such as dark-skinned people, the elderly, children, and obese patients.

It is reported that this medical imaging product has successfully entered the vascular surgery, emergency, and tumor departments of hundreds of hospitals in China, such as the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, Hubei Provincial People's Hospital, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, and Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, to assist medical staff in solving the problems of puncture success rate and puncture efficiency during venous puncture, and has been exported to overseas countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and Pakistan.

showing blood vessels on the surface of the skin

Clinical studies show that more than 25% of patients have experienced the experience of not being able to get an injection and needing a second injection. The blood vessels of infants and young children are small, and the blood vessels of weak and sick people are not obvious, which makes it difficult for medical staff to see the location of blood vessels visually and tactilely. In order to visualize the epidermal blood vessels for better treatment, three different forms of visualization assistance technologies are currently on the market, including transillumination, ultrasound imaging and near-infrared imaging devices.

Christie researchers have developed a device that can present venous blood vessels to medical staff through infrared projection imaging. Transillumination uses focused light to penetrate tissues, but its application in infants and young patients is limited. On the one hand, due to the limited depth of light penetration into tissues, it cannot handle thicker tissues. On the other hand, this method does not provide effective visualization information except for the wrist and hand.

Ultrasonic devices can provide higher tissue and blood vessel resolution. It can use ultrasound to penetrate deep into the tissue and carry internal information back, but doctors need to hold the probe when using it and need the help of ultrasound imaging equipment. At the same time, the three-dimensional image is displayed in two-dimensional form, which will cause visual inaccuracy. In addition, the application of coupling agent during ultrasound imaging will cause great inconvenience to the treatment.

The near-infrared projection equipment that has emerged in recent years makes it possible to visualize tendons and blood vessels. This technology can accurately display subcutaneous blood vessels, and there is no need to worry about the influence of three-dimensional depth for blood vessel imaging. At the same time, safe near-infrared light eliminates the inconvenience of patients being exposed to the skin.

The working principle of this device is as follows: first, the area to be imaged is irradiated with near-infrared light. Since the blood absorbs near-infrared light and can penetrate the epidermis at the same time, the position of the vein can be located based on the absorption of reflected light. Then, the intensity of the reflected light is detected by a near-infrared sensor, and the light that is not absorbed by the blood will be reflected back and detected. Finally, the detected information is processed and projected to the previously irradiated area through a projector, so that the position of the blood vessel can be displayed. The whole process is very similar to the projector-mapping commonly used in the visual field.

The portable vein viewer can achieve real image output and digital real-time imaging through active vascular imaging navigation (AVIN). Through harmless near-infrared light, its real-time navigation can project the dynamic digital image of the vein blood vessels onto the skin surface in real time, accurately and intuitively. After irradiation by the venous imaging device, the distribution of veins can be clearly displayed on the skin surface, helping medical staff to find the best intravenous injection location and avoid potential needle stick complications. Using high-definition image technology, the venous imaging device is the only device that can clearly observe veins throughout the entire intravenous injection process, including before, during, and after the injection. This device can benefit all patients.

In general, a vascular imager is a display device that can display the thickness, direction and layout of veins in real time. It is used to help medical staff find veins. At the same time, it can achieve non-invasive and non-nuclear medical radiation, reduce the pain of specific patients and medical disputes. At present, it is mainly used in national second-class and third-class hospitals, children's hospitals, and plastic surgery hospitals. It can be used in micro-plastic surgery, pediatrics, neonatal scalp veins, obese patients, and the elderly.

In the hospital, when nurses take blood from patients and require intravenous injections, due to the different physical conditions of patients or the level of medical staff, injection errors or repeated injections often occur, which will cause infection, hematoma, and even medical disputes. Cause pain and pressure to patients and medical staff. In order to solve this medical problem, the researchers have spent ten years using nano-infrared spectrophotometry to develop a "vascular imager" to fill the gap in medical devices in this field.

This technology has obtained technical patents in South Korea and the United States and has been registered and filed in South Korea, the United States, Europe, China and other countries.

The technical principle of the vein check machine is to use a special LED nano-infrared light source (800nm-900nm) to irradiate the depth (10mm) on the human body surface. The information is collected by a special imaging CCD device and converted into a digital signal, which displays a clear vascular image on the LCD screen.