Devices & Diagnostics

Gaming meets nursing: Innovative glasses can see through patients’ skin to find best veins

As hospitals look to reduce medical errors and speed up care delivery, innovative eyewear technology […]

As hospitals look to reduce medical errors and speed up care delivery, innovative eyewear technology could make the task of finding appropriate veins for blood samples and medication delivery easier and safer.

Evena Medical has developed eyewear with Epson that can see veins beneath the skin — Eyes-On-Glasses, according to a company statement.

Evena initially debuted the technology earlier this year. But the eyewear version is more flexible than the bulky, computer based technology and lets nurses use it at the point of care. It’s a response to one of the broad trends in healthcare of technology that fits into workflows with the potential to help speed up care delivery.

The technology behind its Eyes-On-Glasses device uses multi-spectral 3D imaging to show veins beneath the skin. Two digital cameras transmit the images wirelessly through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or 3G connectivity. Video or images collected using the glasses can be transmitted remotely. It can also connect to electronic medical records systems for automated documentation.

The eyewear format reflects its collaboration with Epson, which has Moverio gaming glasses that share a resemblance.

Frank Ball, Evena Medical CEO, said it will reduce the multiple attempts to locate and access veins which happens 40 percent of the time that medical staff insert IVs.

The Reddit nursing community had a mixed reaction to the glasses based on a Computerworld article. Comments varied from  unimpressed to more positive responses.

ER RN Sclingfo 8 points ago:

“If this technology is like the veinfinders they currently use in hospitals, it does have significant limitations:

1)It shows ALL vessels, including flimsy vessels that wouldn’t hold a 32 gauge catheter. That puts you right back and needing to be able to palpate the vein. If you can palpate the vein, then you don’t really need a vein finder.

2)It doesn’t show depth.

3)The veins in people with dark skin don’t often show up well on these.”

Jilleh-bean 6 points ago:

“This already exists as a hand held device.”

PeopleArePeopleToo an RN in the ICU 1 point ago

“Yea they are great. Hands free sounds even better.”

 

 

 

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