Blood Draws, IV Process Improved by Advanced Vein Viewer

Carson Tahoe Health now joins the ranks of other premier health institutions such as MD Anderson, Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins with their recent investment in state-of-the-art technology for vascular access – The Vein Viewer.

Simply stated, the Vein Viewer helps medical staff locate veins when starting IV’s or gaining venous access. Medical professionals traditionally rely on their ability to locate veins through sight and touch. The Vein Viewer illuminates the position of the target area, utilizing near-infrared light, a digital video camera and an image processing unit to build an image of the patient’s veins. The device then projects that image onto the patient’s skin using visible light, and the clinician’s hands are free to do the work. Essentially, the Vein Viewer takes the guesswork out of venous access procedures. With this new technology at Carson Tahoe, medical professionals can clearly see patients’ veins (or lack thereof), making the likelihood of more than one “poke” slim to none – greatly increasing patient satisfaction.

Vein Viewer technology is especially valuable in caring for patients with hard to find veins, such as elderly patients, patients undergoing chemotherapy, pediatric patients, and patients with generally poor venous access. We all know venous access procedures can be stressful for many individuals, and even greater for those who have small veins and limited access points. The entire IV process at Carson Tahoe Health is now much easier because we have adopted this state of the art technology in vascular access.

This new advanced technology was made possible thanks to the hard work and generosity of the CTH Auxiliary.