Duluth health care provider has new vein illumination device

DULUTH, Minn. - Getting blood drawn or having an IV inserted is nobody's idea of a good time and often can be painful, especially if veins are not easily accessible.

Essentia Health in Duluth is implementing a vein illumination system called Accuvein to help patients and phlebotomists, the healthcare professionals who draw blood from veins.

The AccuVein AV400 system uses a beam of light projected onto a patient's arm to reveal a map of the peripheral veins under the skin's surface. It helps health care professionals visualize veins for IV starts and blood draws, which can often be challenging in patients who are dehydrated, obese, dark-skinned or have small veins.

The device is about the size of a television remote control. With center line accuracy to the width of a human hair, the AV400 can detect veins up to 10 mm deep. "It's helped me find veins I couldn't feel," phlebotomist Tom West said. "I find it very helpful, especially on elderly and pediatric patients."

Intensive care unit patients who are swollen after surgery and trauma can also benefit from the system.

On its downtown Duluth medical campus, Essentia phlebotomists perform 17,000 venipunctures each month and hundreds a day. The health system has purchased 15 AccuVein devices at a cost of $5,000 each. Areas that have the device include the emergency department, pediatrics, and the cardiac catheter lab.

Several of the provider's other locations use AccuVein technology with others scheduled to receive it later this year.