VeinLoc: Surface Blood Vessel Detector

Keeping in mind the lack of technology that exists in rural areas, especially in the medical field, simple procedures like blood withdrawals are also done carelessly leading to internal hemorrhage, infections, and general discomfort to patients of all age groups. The blood vessel detector [1] is aimed at revolutionizing medicine by allowing amateur nurses to effectively withdraw venous blood from the body without causing large scale discomfort to patients, thereby making the procedure comfortable and hassle free. The device operates successfully on any surface vein. It effectively displays the closeness to a blood vessel by means of various parameters and using this as a guide, the individual operating the device is able to withdraw blood, in addition the detector is made with a plastic outer body; the sensor mechanism located at the tip and composed of a circuit embedded in the body. It runs on battery. Moreover, the design meets all requirements of sterility and cleanliness by allowing the disposal of used needles and vacutainers but retains the detector for multiple uses, thereby making it a cost effective option. Existing devices are expensive and unaffordable for rural clinics, thus making them not very useful for low cost healthcare [2]. Therefore, VeinLoc will be a cost effective surface blood vessel detector. © 2015 by ASME.