Method of locating vein

• US 3,998,210 A
• Filed: 07/30/1974
• Issued: 12/21/1976
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gate Industries Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Gate Industries Incorporated
• Inventors: Nosari, Elmo R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Truluck, Dalton L.
• Application Number:
  US05/493,347
• Time in Patent Office: 875 Days
• Field of Search: 128/2 R, 128/2 H, 128/DIG. 5, 73/356, 23/230 LC
• US Class Current: 600/549
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/15003 for venous or arterial blood
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/150748 Having means for aiding positioning of the piercing device at a location where the body is to be pierced means for aiding positioning of devices for bringing media into the body A61M5/427, locating blood vessels A61B5/489
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/489 Blood vessels
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 5/427 Locating point where body is to be pierced, e.g. vein location means using ultrasonic waves, injection site templates

Abstract

A laminate includes a backing of generally flexible, transparent sheet material supporting a particular layer of encapsulated liquid crystal material having properties for providing color variations in response to slight variations in temperature. A mixture of adhesive and ink is provided and disposed on the particular layer in a preferred method of making the laminate. The laminate is particularly useful in locating veins prior to the taking of a blood sample or prior to an invasive process of inserting fluids into a patient. The laminate can be adhered to the skin and the non-visible temperature pattern of the skin, including the generally hotter areas associated with the veins, will provide the liquid crystal material with a corresponding visual color pattern. The pattern will include a stripe of color indicating the location of the vein to facilitate the taking of the blood sample from the vein or the insertion of fluid into the vein by an invasive process. The invention relates to the article, method of forming the article and method of determining the position of veins on a human being.

Claims

1. A method for taking a sample of blood from a vein of a patient or of infusing fluid into the vein of the patient by invasive techniques, the vein having a relatively high temperature providing the skin of the patient in proximity to the vein with a higher temperature than the remaining areas of the skin, the method including the steps of:

providing a thin temperature sensitive film of substantially uniform thickness of the order of a rew mils, the film including a multiplicity of microcapsules in a relatively high concentration with each microcapsule having a hollow interior enclosing within the hollow interior a liquid crystal material having properties instantaneously responsive to different temperatures of the liquid crystal material in a colorplay range of temperatures to vary the color of the liquid crystal material, and providing a thin backing of a substantially uniform thickness for the temperature sensitive film and providing on the temperature sensitive film a thin film of a substantially uniform thickness of a few mils of a combination of an adhesive and background means;

initially applying a solvent to the skin of the patient at a localized position overlying the vein of the patient to clean and cool the skin at this localized position;

immediately thereafter placing the temperature sensitive film in contiguous relationship with the skin of the patient at a localized position overlying the vein of the patient and with the adhesive film contacting the skin at the localized position, the crystal material in the temperature sensitive film being instantaneously responsive to the higher temperature of the body at positions in proximity to the vein to provide instantaneously and for a relatively short period of time a color pattern including a first color along the path of the vein and being responsive to the lower temperature of the remaining areas of the body contacted by the adhesive film to provide instantaneously and for the relatively short period of time in the color pattern a color other than the first color at the positions contiguous to such remaining area of the body;

inserting the needle of a syringe or set into the patient at a position along an extension of the path defined by the first color in the color pattern provided by the liquid crystal material so that the needle enters the vein; and

operating the syringe to withdraw the sample of the blood from the vein or to infuse fluid into the vein of the patient by invasive techniques.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein the temperature sensitive film is at least partially defined by a longitudinal edge and the placing step includes the step of positioning the temperature sensitive film in contiguous relationship with the skin of the patient with the longitudinal edge of the vein locating film in transverse relationship with the vein in the arm of the patient.

3. The method recited in claim 2 further comprising the steps of:

viewing the particular longitudinal edge of the temperature sensitive film to determine a particular point along the longitudinal edge at which the liquid crystal material has a color closer to the color blue in the spectrum than the other colors along the longitudinal edge; and

inserting the needle of the syringe or set into the arm of the patient in proximity to the particular point along the longitudinal edge of the temperature sensitive strip.

4. The method recited in claim 1 wherein during the providing step a layer of adhesive is disposed next to the capsules and a release paper is removably adhered to the adhesive layer to protect the adhesive layer, and the method further comprises, prior to the placing step, the step of removing the release paper from the adhesive layer to expose the adhesive layer and to facilitate the placing of the temperature sensitive film in contiguous relationship with the skin of the patient.

5. The method recited in claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

intimately mixing an adhesive and a dark colored background ink to form an adhesive mixture having dark opaque adhesive characteristics;

depositing the intimate mixture in contiguous relationship with the encapsulated liquid crystal material;

during the placing step, positioning the vein locating film on the arm of the patient with the adhesive mixture disposed in contiguous relationship with the skin of the patient; and

viewing the instantaneously produced color variations of the liquid crystal material against the dark, opaque background provided by the adhesive mixture.

6. A method of locating a vein of a patient for the purpose of taking a sample of blood from the patient or of infusing fluid into the vein of the patient by invasive techniques,

providing a thin temperature sensitive film having a substantially uniform thickness of a few mils and including a multiplicity of hollow microcapsules each having properties of passing light and each enclosing a chemical having properties of responding instantaneously to variations in temperature through a range of temperatures representative of temperatures on the skin of the patient to produce different colors in the chemical at such different positions in accordance with such variations in temperature at such different positions,

applying a solvent to a localized postion on the skin of the patient near the vein of the patient to sterilize and cool the skin at the localized position near the vein of the patient;

immediately thereafter disposing the thin temperature sensitive film on the skin of the patient at the localized position near the vein of the patient to obtain variations instantaneously and for only a relatively brief period of time in the color of the film at different positions in accordance with the variations in the temperature of the patient'"'"'s body at such different positions; and

observing on the temperature sensitive film the positions which provide instantaneously and for only the relatively brief period of time the colors representative of the elevated temperature produced in the body of the patient by the proximity of the patient'"'"'s vein.

7. A method as set forth in claim 6 wherein the temperature sensitive film is provided with a thin layer having a substantially uniform temperature response and having properties of adhering to the patient'"'"'s skin in removable relationship to the skin and wherein the temperature sensitive film is disposed on the patient'"'"'s skin with the adhering layer adhered to the skin.

8. The method as set forth in claim 7 wherein the solvent initially applied to the skin constitutes alcohol and wherein the adhering layer has properties of becoming degraded in alcohol to facilitate the removal of the temperature sensitive film from the patient'"'"'s skin upon the initial application of alcohol to the skin and to inhibit the re-adherence of the adhering layer of the patient'"'"'s skin.

9. A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein a release paper is normally disposed on the adhering layer and the release paper is removed from the adhering layer just prior to the adherence of the adhering layer on the patient'"'"'s skin.