(J-392) The future of intravenous therapy insertions by using vein finder technology in emergency scenarios to help first responders improve patient safety and care.
Student University of Texas at Arlington Dallas, Texas, United States
Introduction:: Patients with low blood pressure or high body mass index are more likely to have an IV incorrectly inserted by a medical professional in any scenario. This potentially opens the doors to infection, medicines leaking out into nearby tissues, and adds to the time until interventions can be applied. The added pressure to a first responders’ situation where seconds could be crucial in a medical emergency makes a missed attempt significantly more dire. The incorporation of vein finder technology in an emergency scenario would improve the IV success rates and decrease the time until a patient receives lifesaving fluids. The use of vein finders in hospitals that use near-infrared light has proven to increase the quality of patient care therefore the development of a product that is portable and hands-free for first responders would eliminate potential error for an IV attempt. In this project, we specific describe the implementation of such a headset device that could provide a solution to first responders by enabling them to find hard to see veins, decrease IV times, and increase IV success rates.
Materials and Methods:: The protype uses the principles of near-infrared light and its absorption by veins to display negative areas on the patient’s skin from a projection of the device from a headset. The headset device is designed to be portable, reliable, and durable. The wearable device design uses the same principles as current devices but within in a package under 600 grams and with a minimum 1-hour battery life. The prototype is expected to provide accurate localization within 2 millimeters of veins that are a maximum of 10 millimeters deep and 2 millimeters wide. It is tested alongside existing vein finders on a mock system to assess the differences in accuracy as well as speed.
Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: The results from the experiment between the existing vein finder and the prototype are expected to both provide accuracy within the ranges of 2 millimeters of the veins that are at a maximum 2mm wide and 10mm deep. The stabilization and the hands-free nature of the protype is expected to provide quick and accurate insertion of the IV in the mock system that is comparable with the existing vein finders. This improvement however is the ability for it to be hands-free within a portable package such that it may be used by paramedics in an emergency scenario. The continuing development of the product could provide a reliable, durable, and smaller product that would be appealing to users. Further optimization of the product in future work is to enable use in high sunlight environments.
Acknowledgements (Optional): : (Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R25EB032766. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.)
