A device, which projects a green video image of a patient’s veins onto their skin, is about to go on trial to help nurses pinpoint a suitable vein for an injection or a drip.

The prototype of the “vein contrast enhancer ” (VCE) uses a near-infrared camera to capture a video image of the veins, a PC to enhance the contrast of the image and a desktop video projector to display it on the skin in real time.

The vein contrast enhancer can detect veins up to 8 mm below the surface of the skin, says its inventor, Herbert Zeman, a biomedical engineer at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Green light is used as the backdrop because it is not sensed by the infrared camera.

The VCE system can fit in a package the size of a shoebox, and is portable enough to be mounted on an intravenous drip stand. Three prototypes will begin clinical trials at a hospital in Tennessee later in 2004.

Via New Scientist and Beverly who always gets there before me!!!