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New Smart Glasses Allow Nurses To See Veins Through Skin
Lucas123 writes "Epson and Evena Medical today unveiled a new smart-glass technology that allows nurses to see 'through' a patient's skin to the vasculature beneath in order to make intravenous placement easier. The Eyes-On Glasses System is based on Epson's Moverio Smart Glasses Technology, an Android-based, see-through wearable display launched earlier this year that allows users to interact with apps and games. The glasses use near-infrared light to highlight deoxygenated hemoglobin in a patient's veins and capture the images with two stereoscopic cameras. The cameras then project the vein images onto the see-through glass screens. The glasses can store the images and video and transfer them wirelessly to a patient's electronic health record, and they also come with dual built-in speakers for video conferencing."
Kids love cinemon toast crunch?
Can't wait for the nurses "hey, I didn't know you were THAT happy to see me" jokes
Let me know when they invent the ones which can allow us to see nurse's skin through clothes.
...that they don't have to play "Go Fish" in my arm every time I get an IV in, I'm all for it, unintended consequences be damned.
Had to go into the hospital for the first time in ages the other day, and it took about five or six sticks -- including the kind where you can see them feeling around for anything once the needle's already in you -- before they hit the vein. And I'm skinny, as well, at least in the places where they stick me. Can't begin to imagine what it's like if your veins are invisible.
I am sure that I saw an advert for this towards the back pages of my Fantastic Four comics circa 1982
. .
You can make your own passive IR goggles using "congo blue" and "primary red" lighting gels. They work just the same as the ones in TFA but they require about 1kw/m^2 of external incandecent lighting. Not really hospital friendly but they are fantastic for wandering around the neighbourhood in the summer.
Look for Bill Beaty's IR goggles
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
Ohh... wait. I can't get that image off my ... yuk
Haven't we seen stories in this vein before?
(Or not.)
I WON'T MISS ANYMORE
the "how the hell did no one think of this before" Department
From TFA:
The Eyes-On Glasses System is based on Epson's Moverio Smart Glasses Technology, an Android-based, see-through wearable display launched earlier this year that allows users to interact with apps and games.
That technology from Epson when applied to game, users do not put on those wearable display for hours and hours every single day, they only put them on when they play games.
On the other hand, nurses working in the hospitals may end up wearing the glasses which projects infrared lights many hours each days.
My question being --- Would prolonged exposure to infrared light poses any danger on the eyes of the wearer ?
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Pair this with the blood analyzer from yesterdays Slashdot article and with a new very sensitive sensors I saw from a Slashdot submission(that was not published) on Star Trek style Tricorders, and very good software to run it all and last but not least a cancer sniffing dog and you won't need a doctor at for diagnostics ( the don't really do diagnostics today anyway, just push pills)
Can't wait to see if this is possible to see this effect with the Raspberry Pi and a Pi NoIR camera, given that you can
use the material from inside a floppy disk as a visible light filter
If they can do skin I am damn well using all the cereal box tops I've been saving up since the 1970's! Finally my hobby is redeemed! X-Ray glasses that work!
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
One one of the episodes of the animated show featuring him, he proclaimed "i have a good idea". ricky gervais and stephen merchant said they would be the judge of that...and in fact would both state before even hearing it that the idea would be not good. and karl says "see through skin". laughter ensues. smart glasses that look through the skin is pretty close.=)
But they've overdone it with all the videoconferencing bullshit.
What happened to doing one thing and doing it well?
But will they be able to see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
We already have technology that does this. We have hand-held devices that shine near-infrared light through the skin and make the veins show up just fine.
They have significant problems, which this system shares. Most importantly, they show *all* veins, including all the ones which can't be cannulated because they are too small, too fragile, or too badly scarred. You have to palpate (feel) the vein to assess whether it's suitable, and if you can palpate it, you don't need to see it at all.
Also, they really only work at all on caucasian skin.
Further, this system is kind of ridiculously expensive. Even though the prices have dropped on commodity displays, microprocessors, 3G and wifi, and all those bells and whistles, it's still a complex piece of gear. We may as well pay for a bedside ultrasound which costs no more, is more precise, and is useful for a lot more than just IV starts.
In fifty years taking blood will look like a civil war bone saw to us now.
Mr. Heroin addict: don't be found with this in your car -- an extra needle poke is easier to take than a ride with bracelets to the jail...
Dean Kamen, the guy that invented the Segway scooter, invented a gizmo years ago that helped doctors and nurses find the vein for starting an IV.
While in the hospital for a week in March 2008 after bowel resection surgery, they had to restart my IV after 3 days. They had a devil of a time finding a vein. When none of the nurses on the floor could do it, I asked why a doctor couldn't come to do it. "It's not the doctor's responsibility to start IVs" (definite implication that it was beneath their station to do such menial work).
I then asked about this wonder machine. "Oh, we can't use that." When I pressed why not, one nurse finally admitted that someone had screwed up using it and now no one could use it.
In many ways, medicine is a backwards and archaic profession. No wonder healthcare costs are skyrocketing and quality of care isn't going up.
With enhanced vision to pick out a suitably lethal spot. I'm certain I've seen this hinted at in numerous movies.
Have gnu, will travel.
... Heroine addicts snap up smart glasses for more accurate delivery.
Having dealt with a chronic illness my whole life, my veins were completely shot by the time I was 12. More often than not, they had to try multiple times. Even after a successful IV, they often blew after a few hours or days and then the whole ordeal started again.
For those of you who have fortunately little experience with the medical system, let me tell you, IV's are a lot more painful than blood tests. They need to be fed a lot further and deeper into your veins and they often need to dig around to get into right spot (just let that mental image sink in ... "long needle" and "digging").
If this tech had been available, my veins might not be practically collapsed at 26.
I need a pair of these for the next time I go to the beach.
Some 1 out of 20 folks have no stereo vision. Will phlebotomists now be required to pass a depth perception test?
They beat our manager because he refused to put blue lights in the bathrooms of our restaurant. They accused us of supporting intravenous drug users and stopped us at random after leaving work for several weeks. Imagine how pissed they're going to be when they find-out these things exist.
you can use the material from inside a floppy disk as a visible light filter
If you have a developed roll of film, the black frame at the ends of the roll is opaque to visible light but transparent to IR.
If you have an old blacklight bulb, the glass is Wood's Glass, which blocks visible light but is transparent to IR and UV.
Transmission characteristics of Wood's glass
Just wondering....LOL
"The glasses can store the images and video and transfer them wirelessly to a patient's electronic health record..."
Today, your health record; Tomorrow, The World! Muaha Ha!
Man .. I could have done with the last week, they were trying to get a catheter in and had six goes at finding a suitable vein.
Ended up being done by the main anesthetist who did a local and went in deep.
Many times when giving blood they have to have a couple of goes, it can be a pain.
Why not just call it Junkie-Vision?
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
This brings us one step closer to making vampires (the cool ones, not the flying rats) a reality.
As a doctor I can say this is rubbish. IV access and venepuncture isn't done by visualizing the vein, it's done by using anatomy knowledge to palpate and find a vein that's robust enough to take the needle/cannula. If it's done by sight alone, then it's wrong, there are plenty of visible veins that collapse as soon as a needle is inserted. This reminds me of the attempt to give patients local anaesthesia before having a cannula inserted, which was proved to be a rubbish solution. If you're a patient, I can feel your pain, but do understand we're there to make you better and we loathe the idea of causing you pain via needles. It's just something that has to happen until we find a way of giving medication wirelessly.
Really cool use of tech, but I doubt that glass reporting in to Google will be very HIIPA compliant.
Heeeeeelllllloooooo Nurse!!!
Let's hope the useage will not be totally in vein.
How common were the adverts for Xray Specs in the back of the DC comics I read as a child. Give me my Xray Specs and a Mr. Microphone and I could be the life of the party. Hey good lookin'! I'll be back to pick you up later.
I recently spent far too much time in a hospital and they poked me a lot. A whole lot. Each time they needed to find a vein. I've been asking for technology like this for a long time.
Finding a vein is now a very personalized skill. One doctor who was a real genius at this, has poor sight and hearing, and told me he does it by feel. Others use very bright lights. One nurse, who was the backup when everybody else couldn't find a vein, said she doesn't know how she does it.
For people who need intravenous meds all the time, there are permanent installations they attach to the patients arm or neck. They go into the big vein leading into the top of the heart, the superior vena cava.
This could be a great boon to patients.
I18N == Intergalacticization