Veins projection performance based on ultrasonic distance sensor in various surface objects

Abstract

Intravenous therapy aims to inject fluids such as medicine or nutritions into the body via vein vessel. This procedure is needed in various cases whether in an ordinary or emergency. Every person has a different difficulty level thus a nurse usually encountered a problem when locating the position of vein vessel. A visualization device that able to work in realtime and have high mobility is really necessary for an emergency situation to speed up the intravenous access. In this study, a stand-alone veins visualization system was developed. The back-projection method that can adjust based on distance was used to speed up the visualization process. The distance between the device and the object is obtained by an ultrasonic distance sensor. The results of this projection method with a flat surface have maximum shift of 0.48 mm. While on various surfaces, projection shifts under 0.9 mm reach 89% from 140 measurement points. Projection shifts that reach more than 0.9 mm occurred due to the sensor readings are on steep curvature or large angles between segments and sensors.