Abstract

Administration of fluids or medication and blood draw procedures require the nurse or
the phlebotomist to access the veins in patients at hospitals or phlebotomy centers. It is important
to minimize the discomfort associated with sticking needles in the patient more than once and
most often, necessary to find an appropriate vein within few minutes. However, problems
involved in accessing veins in pediatric and obese patients make it very difficult to perform a
successful stick in a short time. The VeinViewer Imaging System is an infrared imaging device
that provides the nurses and phlebotomists a means for locating veins in the very first attempt
and within a few seconds. A camera captures an image of the veins illuminated by infrared light
and a contrast-enhanced image of the veins is projected back onto the patient’s skin in real-time
using a projector, after being processed by a computer. Each vein in the VeinViewer image
appears with different contrast against the background skin. To evaluate the performance of the
device, a thorough investigation of the properties of the vein affecting its contrast can be of
immense value.

The goal of this research is to determine quantitatively the effect of physical properties of
veins such as depth and diameter on its visibility in the VeinViewer image. The results of this
study can be interpreted to understand the biological phenomena influencing the quality of the
VeinViewer image. An extension of this study may lead to advancement in the hardware or
software which potentially will benefit the phlebotomists and physicians.

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Revised 27 June 2008