Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/27/handy-little-vein-viewer-illuminates-any-vein.html
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Oh boy, that would make going to the Dr’s office much nicer for me, I have very stubborn skin and deeply hidden veins, Ouch City goodbye!
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Me too; sometimes I end up like a dart board, covered in holes.
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Oh wow - that looks like something out of science fiction.
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As awful as so much in the world is these days, biotech like this seem magical and revolutionary. The leaps that have been made with prosthetics, minimally or completely non-invasive tools like this, mRNA vaccines and so much more give me profound hope and joy.
It also makes me wonder what other applications this tech will evolve into. I assume this is pretty close to 1st gen tech, so there must be so many ways this will be adapted in the future.
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I have yet to see these in actual use, although I’ve seen post featuring these devices for years. I really want it to be reality because I am an awful, awful stick, to the point where the tech insist on drawing blood from my hands and feet, which hurts.
Please, Internet, quit taunting me.
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Lets hope it will soon be a phone app.
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I hate all the software up-sells.
These are not used for blood draws, for those people thinking they would help them. They are used for putting in IVs. At the cancer center I go to I’m known as a notoriously hard stick, and have had this used on me more than once, and the one they have is smaller than the one in the video. It’s helpful, but no guarantee of getting the IV in. 
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“Once these modes have been purchased and unlocked…”
We had one of these on my old unit (icu overflow). They’re pretty cool, but the promise is better than the results (plus the icu next door was always “losing” it). I found that if I couldn’t get a good stick, then it was better to go to a 20 year veteran than to use one of these machines (though both are equally temperamental) . Then again, our county hospital was woefully underfunded so maybe we didn’t get the best gear - covid hit that hospital especially bad (well the whole county).
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At my first employer, we’d have part of a day once a year set aside from work: on that day medical/health specialists (including phlebotomists) would show up at our large cafeteria. There, (along with being given health advice, etc.) we’d have our blood drawn for analysis. That free service would yield a blood work report mailed to your home. First off… in normal light, my arm veins — without the use of a tourniquet — are visible from ~20 feet; I checked. Case closed. The first person to attempt at sticking me that day (in the location) screwed up twice. I made my unhappiness clearly known, which prompted a third attempt but by someone else who successfully completed the job on their first try. The first two jabs led to a nasty “4"x3” black and blue bruise on my arm. I wonder if a vein viewer could have been helpful that day.
Ok, so my mind immediately goes to how handy this would be for old junkies who have trouble finding viable veins to shoot up. William Burroughs left a powerful impression on me.
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“Young man, if I had veins like yours, I’d have myself a holiday.”
–William Burroughs (possibly apocryphal.)
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couldn’t help but notice the mode for “darker skin tones” is an upgrade.
I have had the vein viewers used on me at the hospital.
My veins can be very difficult to find, and it has not been uncommon for nurses to try 1 and 3 times to find a usable vein, and they often call another nurse to try instead.
The vein viewer works pretty well. 
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