Monday, Nov. 29, 2004

Perfect Aim

Vein Contrast Enhancer
Inventor: Conenhill Biomedics
Availability: 2005, price not set
To Learn More: conenhill.com

Getting stuck with a needle is bad. Feeling like a pincushion while a medic looks for a vein is worse. Thanks to OnTarget, a so-called vein-contrast-enhancement device, doctors will soon be able to navigate your veins with a virtual map. Using a near-infrared camera, OnTarget takes a real-time video image of blood and projects it onto the skin—blood appears dark, and fat and tissue look light—highlighting placement of veins within 0.06 mm.