For medical professionals, vein finders are essential tools used to find veins and avoid inaccurate vein access. These devices are used by clinicians, nurses, and other medical professionals to detect subcutaneous peripheral veins that are hard to locate. A vein finder is commonly used in neonates, pediatric, dehydrated, elderly, dark skin, and obese patients. It is also in cosmetic procedures and even in the treatment of varicose veins. If you are in the medical or nursing field, you will find this post helpful in finding the best vein finder suited for you.
How Do Vein Finders Work?
Nurses know well that no patient wants their veins to be poked several times, increasing fear and trauma. While most people have visible veins, some may have veins that are difficult to locate or not visible to the naked eye due to factors like skin color, age, or the presence of fatty tissues. These devices illuminate the veins underneath the surface of the skin. Thus, missing the vein and making a mistake becomes a thing of the past.
Vein Finders
Vein finders are one of the fantastic tools a nurse could have. As vein visualization technology has become crucial in aiding venipunctures of blood vessels and cannulation procedures, it has been an essential tool at hospitals and clinics.
These small or portable gadgets use infrared light technology that is safe, non-invasive, and painless. Let us take a better look at how these vein imaging technology devices work.
Infrared Vein Finder
Vein visualization technology use harmless infrared wavelengths or near-infrared light source to create an image onto the viewing area. The scientific principle behind these devices is that the Hemoglobin blood has a different light absorption rate than its surrounding tissue.
The infrared rays or light source is absorbed into the blood, and the surrounding tissues reflect it by creating an HD image of superficial veins to show a patient's vasculature.
With the x-ray type of view of a patient's vein and blood vessels in real-time, the ordeal of taking blood samples and injecting needles has never become so easy. An infrared vein finder uses infrared light and can make one see through the surface of the skin up to a range of up to 15mm deep.
The fine details from the HD image allow a nurse to avoid potential problems by choosing the correct needle gauge depending on the vein size. The best part of this technology is that it also shows live feedback of the IV flow to monitor and avoid potential problems. Other benefits of using an infrared vein finder include:
Choosing The Right Nursing Vein Finder
Whether you are in the medical frontline, a phlebotomist, or one who works in a hospital with young children, a vein finder will be helpful to you. Not only does it reduce the number of mistakes from missing veins, but it also makes needle insertion an easy and fast process.
With all the many devices available in the market, it is hard to choose the best vein finder. So, we are here to present you with all the information you need to know before buying a vein illuminating device for work use. Below are some of the critical factors that you should consider when planning to get a vein finder.
Battery
Models that come with rechargeable batteries and a battery charger are a better investment. Some may also come with additional battery packs that you can quickly swap when charging time comes.
Yet, other great devices come with either a single or two aa batteries that can be conveniently replaced anytime. A suitable vein illumination device should also last at least 3 to 4 hours of continuous use before charging.
Intended For Both Adults And Children
There a few vein finder models that are intended for use on either adults or children only. Choosing one that can be used on both is a better option in terms of practicality.
Easy to Clean
Vein visualization devices typically touch the patient's skin are usually intended to be used on various individuals. Thus, the gadget must be easy to clean and sanitize. Some devices may even come with disposable plastic covers to prevent cross-contamination. These disposable covers will protect your patient during vein locating procedures.
You may also use germicidal wipes to clean the machine every after use. Avoid using alcohol to clean these devices as it may weaken the vein finder light or LED lights and make them look fogged.
Light Shield
Some devices may come with extra utilities like a light shield to protect the user from the strong LED lights. These light shields also allow you to see the projected image from the device better.
Size and Weight
These devices should be lightweight and portable as they are often carried from one area to another. The ideal weight is at least 4 oz. It should also come in small sizes fit to be used inside incubators.
Durability
Choose a brand and model that will last for long years. Additionally, follow the manufacturer's instructions on the proper use and cleaning of your device to avoid unnecessary damage.
Product Warranty
A trusted and reliable vein product that comes with a warranty of 3 to 5 years is a great choice. Some brand manufacturers may even give money-back guarantee for consumer confidence.
FDA Registration
The vein finder should also be registered and approved by the FDA.
Cost
Some brand manufacturers may sell their vein finder devices at higher prices. There are also many inexpensive ones in the market. However, it is better to choose one that is more useful and effective regardless of the cost.
Design and Ease of Use
Choose a vein finder device that comes in an elegant and modern design. Some brands may even come with carrying cases that you can use as a belt clip. A device that is simple and easy to operate is a good choice.
Adjustable Brightness
Many infrared vein illuminating devices have a brightness level adjustment that can be used depending on the situation. These brightness adjustment controls make it even easier to detect superficial veins that are hard to find.
The 6 Best Vein Finders
Most vein finding devices are commonly powered by batteries and are most effective in dim light settings. Here are some of the best vein finders that we have reviewed and found helpful in the medical or nursing practice.
1. Vivolight Vivo500S
Vivo500S is a high-grade tool that delivers vein visualization with exceptional detail. It is probably the most accurate and best vein finder in the market today despite being capped at a high price. The device is sophisticated and high-grade is best suited for hospital and clinic use.
Unlike other devices, health care providers can safely use this vein finder on their patient's face and neck as the device uses NIR or near infrared light technology. It can also be used for a variety of individuals, including pediatric patients.
The depth detection mode will allow you vein detection depth of up to 8 mm. Brightness levels can also be adjusted
2. Veinlite's Vein Finder EMS Pro (Adult and Pediatric)
Veinlite is a top brand manufacturer of vein viewer devices. Veinlite EMS Pro is among the top portable vein finders in the market. It is suitable for use on both adults and children and is conveniently sold to the general public.
This Veinlite device uses only two aa batteries so that you won't worry about battery replacement problems. These two aa batteries can even last up to 5 hours of continuous use. The device has a LED power indicator that changes from green to orange to a red LED.
Green power indicates good adequate power while orange for low power. The led indicator will change to a blinking red light an hour before total battery drainage.
The device also comes with 50 disposable plastic covers that are essential for sanitation purposes. It also comes in-hand with a pediatric adapter and a light shield. The pediatric adapter makes it simple to find veins in younger children while the light shield gives added protection to the user's eyes.
Veinlite's EMS Pro is easy to use and has 24 bright LED lights to illuminate the surface of the skin. However, the led lights are not effective enough for those with dark skin and those who are obese. Yet, Veinlite's LEDX, which is next on our list, is a better alternative to be used for these individuals.
3. Veinlite LEDX Transilluminator Vein Finder
Veinlite's LEDX is mainly designed for adults and is best for dark-skinned or obese people. Like Veinlite's other vein finder products, this model is also cleared for safety by the FDA.
It has 32 powerful and bright LED lights, 24 orange and eight red ones. This powerful LED light color combination is effective for making deeper veins appear as dark lines on the device.
The Veinlite LEDX device comes with replaceable and rechargeable batteries to recharge for at least 500 cycles or at least three years. This product lifespan makes it an excellent investment as you may need to upgrade to a more advanced model in the future.
You can use the vein finder for at least 3 to 4 hours of continuous use before needing to recharge. And like the Veinlite EMS Pro, LEDX also comes with 50 disposable covers.
4. IntellVision Red Infrared Vein Finder
IntellVision Red Infrared Vein Finder is a high-powered vein viewer device that maps veins instantly. This model can be is efficiently used to locate veins even on a darker-skinned or older patient. It allows the map colors of the device to be changed for use depending on the patient's skin complexion. Brightness can also be adjusted.
This vein finder helps take the guesswork out and makes peripheral IV access or needle insertion easy and more manageable.
The portable vein finder can easily fit a nurse's pocket and also comes with a hands-free stand.
5. VeinSight VS500
Veinsight vein finder VS500 is the perfect device for both the clinician and the patient. It can quickly locate veins for IV and venipuncture procedures. This near-infrared vein finder projects a super-imposed two-dimensional image of the vein.
Users may adjust the color and brightness level of the display and even export them to their computers. Inverse mode is also available in the veinsight vein finder VS500 model. Additionally, you can also change the device to different modes depending on the complexity of detecting veins, and these are Fine Mode, Enhance Mode, and Depth Mode. The Enhance Mode is beneficial in detecting deep and thin veins. The projection's window size can even be adjusted depending on the user's needs.
The device comes with a Lithium-ion rechargeable battery and will run up to 5 hours long.
It is heavier than the other mentioned devices and weighs 14 oz. Generally, it is practical to use for most patients and is even effective for children, elderly, obese, and dark-skinned patients. A variety of colors for the projection (Cyan, Green, Blue, White, Orange) can be used depending on the patient's skin complexions.
The device also comes with a stand to provide hands-free operations and a better success rate of venipuncture procedures.
6. Wee-Sight Transilluminator Vein Finder
Wee-Sight Transilluminator Vein Finder is the best vein finder in terms of portability. This transilluminator tool comes in the form of a small handy gadget that is easy to hold especially when handling children. The small size is ideal for use on incubators and the non-heat emitting feature is ideal for the comfort of pediatric patients.
The package includes AA alkaline batteries to instantly power the vein finder.
Conclusion
Vein finders are one of the most innovative technologies that can assist nurses and health care professionals in their work performance. These devices are not meant to replace the skill of conventional methods, but they can boost the speed, confidence, and efficiency of these skilled practitioners.
Overall, the best vein finder device for us is the Vivo500S which tops our list. The device displays up to 80% of invisible veins that are hard to detect using the conventional method. The image resolution is straightforward to read, producing high success rates at these procedures.
We also love that it has adjustable brightness levels to suit every vein finding situation. Aside from being FDA-cleared, the near-infrared technology is also ultra-safe to use even on pediatric patients.
And with the advancement in vein finding technology, glasses, and other vein viewer tools and accessories have become conveniently available online and in various shops.
Yet, even with these handy vein finders and tools, nurses, clinicians, and all users must note these added precautions for using these devices still include knowing your patient's medical history. Things to check include:
We know that there are many kinds of vein finders, and each has its own set of utilities. Though we have featured the best vein finders in the market and covered all essential features for each one, the choice is still up to you. We hope that this guide will help you find the best vein finder for you.