I-Corps: Infrared camera based detection of subsurface veins

I-Corps项目的广泛影响/商业潜力源于红外可视化技术的使用？能够为医院和诊所的患者和医生提供一种成本效益高的方法，以减少需要周围血管通路的手术过程中的不适。视觉显示的移动性和简单性也允许患者和医疗保健专业人员在传统机构的墙外使用相同的解决方案，以及在目前限制或无法进入的环境中使用。据估计，美国医疗保健系统每年因错过血管通路而损失60亿美元，目前患者满意度与医疗保险报销挂钩。血管通路是医院中最常进行的手术之一，该设备为这些机构提供了一个经济实惠的机会，以提高广大患者群体的患者满意度。血库和献血中心依靠志愿者提供血液，这些献血者的满意度对他们招募未来的志愿者或重复献血者的能力至关重要。这些设施被强烈鼓励提供尽可能积极的患者体验，从尽量减少血管进入尝试的次数开始。该装置也可适用于非临床情况，如紧急情况或战场环境。这个I-Corps项目利用脱氧血液与近红外波长光的独特相互作用，创建了患者身体的实时实时视频，周围的血管系统与周围的皮肤、动脉和脂肪组织明显区分开来。这允许从业者观察静脉的物理位置，获得相对静脉深度的估计，并观察已知的干扰进入尝试的因素，如血管运动或滚动。这也允许上静脉定位患者的身体特征或损伤，使血管进入更困难。一个初步的原型证明了所提出的要求，基本的测试已经完成，以证明在各种环境中的功能。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project stems from the use of infra-red visualization technology?s ability to offer patients and medical practitioners at hospitals and clinics a cost-effective way to reduce discomfort during procedures requiring peripheral vascular access. The mobility and simplicity of the visual display also allow same solution to be used by patients and health care professionals outside the walls of traditional institutions, and in settings where there is currently limited or no access to them. Missed vascular access attempts are estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system $6 billion dollars annually, and patient satisfaction is currently tied to Medicare reimbursement. Vascular access is one of the most frequently preformed procedures in hospitals, and the proposed device provides an affordable opportunity for those facilities to improve patient satisfaction across a broad patient population. Blood banks and donation centers rely on volunteers for their supply and the satisfaction of such donors is crucial to their ability to recruit future volunteers or repeat-donors. These facilities are strongly incentivized to provide as positive a patient experience as possible, starting with minimizing the number of vascular access attempts. The device can also be adapted for non-clinical situations, such as emergency or battlefield environments.This I-Corps project uses the unique interaction of deoxygenated blood with light at near infrared wavelengths to create a live, real time video feed of the patients body with the peripheral vasculature clearly differentiated from the surrounding dermal, arterial, and adipose tissue. This allows for practitioners to observe the physical location of the veins, get an estimate for relative vein depth, and observe factors that are known to confound access attempts, such as vascular movement or rolling. This also allows for superior vein location in patients with physical traits or impairments that make vascular access more difficult. A preliminary prototype demonstrates the claims made and rudimentary testing has been completed to demonstrate functionality in a variety of environments.