A new piece of technology could put an end to missed veins once and for all, reports Medical Daily. Vein visualisation technology uses non-invasive infra-red technology to project an image of the donor’s veins onto the skin’s surface. The Australian Red Cross Blood Service is conducting a study on 900 donors, including 300 first-time donors, at the Chatswood and Elizabeth Street Donor Centres in Sydney. Preliminary findings have revealed that the technology is not only safe, but it also reduces anxiety among donors and improves donation comfort.
"Donor Centre staff have found the technology particularly useful in cases where the vein is not visible to the naked eye," Dr Dan Waller, one of the senior investigators on the trial, said. "We are keen to retain our young donors, and it is important to test if this technology may help us do that."
Quelling the fears of would-be blood donors when it comes to needle insertion is important to increasing the number of annual blood donations.
[link url="http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/new-vein-finder-device-allows-nurses-see-exactly-where-they-can-draw-blood-313426"]Full Medical Daily report[/link]