NEEDLE INSERTING ASSISTIVE DEVICE FOR VEINS

Abstract

An needle inserting assistive device for veins comprises an body 1 positioned over a user’s forearm, a microphone 6 to receive user’s voice command, an imaging unit 2 determines positioning of forearm, a near-infrared light (NIR) module to identify location of veins over forearm, an augmented reality projection unit to project laser light over forearm, an screen 3 to display the highlighted locations, an member 5 via a pair of cavities crafted over upper and base portion of body 1, a arm 4 to regulate angle of member 5 in accordance with medical practitioner-specified angle, an ultrasonic sensor to monitor distance of needle and accordingly actuates a speaker 7 to guide medical practitioner to insert needle, a speed sensor to monitor puncturing speed of the needle and a laser beam projector to guide the medical practitioner to position head portion of the needle.

Specification

Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a needle inserting assistive device for veins that is capable of determining a position of the patient's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and an appropriate manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] In medical settings, healthcare professionals frequently need to access veins for various purposes, including drawing blood samples for diagnostic tests, administering medications, delivering fluids, or obtaining intravenous access for surgical procedures. Achieving successful vein puncture is crucial for patient care and treatment efficacy. Traditional needle insertion techniques rely on the skill and experience of healthcare practitioners, who manually insert needles into patients' veins

[0003] Although the traditional method inserting needle on veins has proven effective to some extent, but it comes with inherent limitations. They may pose a barrier to adoption, particularly for smaller healthcare facilities or clinics with limited budgets. Healthcare providers require training and practice to become proficient in using needle-inserting assistive tools effectively. Thus, there is a need to develop an innovative tool that provide a consistent way of inserting needle in veins where traditional methods may fall short and to meet the evolving demands of modern requirements.

[0004] US6524297B1 A disposable product used to stabilize rolling veins and bring small veins into position to facilitate needle insertion. Needle insertion is used for transfusions, to draw blood samples, and for variety of other medical necessities. Many patients have either/or both small veins or veins that roll under the skin. Either of these characteristics has the tendency to complicate the process of sticking the needle in. As a result of these characteristics in concert with the mental and physical discomfort described by several recipients of multiple needle stabs, and fact that these characteristics complicate the speed of providing IV emergency care in a moving ambulance, the invention was developed. Invention is a sterile wrapped flexible plastic performed pad with an elongated hole in the middle, and coated on the bottom with bandage type adhesive

[0005] US20120190981A1 Systems and methods for autonomous intravenous needle insertion are disclosed herein. In an embodiment, a system for autonomous intravenous insertion include a robot arm, one or more sensors pivotally attached to the robot arm for gathering information about potential insertion sites in a subject arm, a medical device pivotally attached to the robot arm, and a controller in communication with the sensors and the robot arm, wherein the controller receives the information from the sensors about potential insertion sites, and the controller selects a target insertion site and directs the robot arm to insert the medical device into the target insertion site.

[0006] Conventionally, many devices exist that are capable of in determining a position of the user's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and an appropriate manner.

[0007] In order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, there exists a need in the art to develop a device that is capable of determining a position of the user's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and a suitable manner.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The principal object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to develop a device that is capable of determining a position of the user's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and an appropriate manner.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to develop a device that is capable of monitoring a puncturing speed of the needle in order to guide the medical practitioner regarding an appropriate speed to be maintained while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein.

[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to develop a device that is reliable in nature.

[0012] The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] The present invention relates to The present invention relates to a needle inserting assistive device for veins that is capable of determining a position of the patient's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and an appropriate manner

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an needle inserting assistive device for veins, comprising, an elongated body accessed by a medical practitioner to position the body over a forearm of the user, wherein a microphone is installed over the body to receive voice command of the medical practitioner regrading identifying veins over the user's forearm, an artificial intelligence based imaging unit installed over the body and integrated with a processor , determines positioning of the forearm beneath aid body and accordingly the microcontroller actuates a near-infrared light (NIR) module installed over the body to identify location of veins over the forearm, an augmented reality projection unit installed over the body and actuated by the microcontroller to project laser light over the forearm to highlight location over the forearm with veins in order to aware the medical practitioner regrading location of the veins, an OLED screen is installed over the body to display the highlighted locations in order to enable the medical practitioner to select a vein in which a needle is to be inserted along with an angle at which the needle is to be inserted, an elongated hollow cylindrical member having top and bottom end is configured within the body in a manner that top and bottom end of the member protrude out of the body by means of a pair of elongated cavities crafted over upper and base portion of the body, a robotic arm installed between the member and body that is actuated by the microcontroller to regulate angle of the member in accordance with the medical practitioner -specified angle, wherein the medical practitioner inserts the needle through the member in order to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in accordance with the medical practitioner-specified angle.

[0015] According to another embodiment of the present invention, further comprises, an ultrasonic sensor installed over the body to monitor distance of the needle from the medical practitioner-selected vein based on which the microcontroller actuates a speaker installed over the body to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in an appropriate manner, wherein a speed sensor is installed over the body to monitor puncturing speed of the needle based on which the microcontroller actuates the speaker to guide the medical practitioner regarding an appropriate speed to be maintained while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein, wherein a laser beam projector is installed over the body and actuated by the microcontroller to project a pair of laser beams to guide the medical practitioner to position head portion of the medical practitioner in between the projected laser beams in order to reduce chances of parallax error while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein, wherein a battery is associated with the device for powering up electrical and electronically operated components associated with the device.

[0016] While the invention has been described and shown with particular reference to the preferred embodiment, it will be apparent that variations might be possible that would fall within the scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
Figure 1 illustrates an isometric view of a needle inserting assistive device for veins.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The following description includes the preferred best mode of one embodiment of the present invention. It will be clear from this description of the invention that the invention is not limited to these illustrated embodiments but that the invention also includes a variety of modifications and embodiments thereto. Therefore, the present description should be seen as illustrative and not limiting. While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, it should be understood, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0019] In any embodiment described herein, the open-ended terms "comprising," "comprises," and the like (which are synonymous with "including," "having" and "characterized by") may be replaced by the respective partially closed phrases "consisting essentially of," consists essentially of," and the like or the respective closed phrases "consisting of," "consists of, the like.

[0020] As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" designate both the singular and the plural, unless expressly stated to designate the singular only.

[0021] The present invention relates to a needle inserting assistive device for veins that is capable of determining a position of the patient's forearm and accordingly identify location of veins over the forearm as per the user desired in order to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the vein in a secured and a suitable manner.

[0022] Referring to Figure 1, an isometric view of a needle inserting assistive device for veins is illustrated, comprising an elongated body 1 accessed by a medical practitioner to position said body 1 over a forearm of said user, a microphone 6 is installed over said body 1, an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 2 installed over said body 1, elongated hollow cylindrical member 5 protrude out of the body 1 by means of a pair of elongated cavities crafted over upper and base portion of the body 1, a robotic arm 4 to regulate angle of the member 5, a speaker 7 to guide the medical practitioner and OLED (Organic Light-emitting Diode) screen 3 is installed over the body 1.

[0023] The present invention is comprises an elongated body 1 accessed by a medical practitioner to position the body 1 over a forearm of the user. Further a microphone 6 is installed over the body 1 to receive voice command of the medical practitioner regrading identifying veins over the user's forearm. The microphone 6 works as a transducer that converts sound waves into audio signal. The microphone 6 on receiving the input from the user converts the input signal into electrical signal and sends it to an inbuilt microcontroller. The microcontroller on receiving the signals interpret the user command for further process.

[0024] As per the user command, the microcontroller activate an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 2 installed over the body 1 to determine positioning of the forearm beneath the body 1. The imaging unit 2 comprises of an image capturing arrangement including a set of lenses that captures multiple images of the forearm and the captured images are stored within a memory of the imaging unit 2 in form of an optical data. The imaging unit 2 also comprises of a processor that is integrated with artificial intelligence protocols, such that the processor processes the optical data and extracts the required data from the captured images. The extracted data is further converted into digital pulses and bits and are further transmitted to the microcontroller. The microcontroller processes the received data and determines positioning of the forearm beneath the body 1.

[0025] Upon determining the position of the forearm beneath the body 1, the microcontroller actuates a near-infrared light (NIR) module installed over the body 1 to identify location of veins over the forearm. The NIR module transmits an infrared light from an infrared light emitted integrated within the module wavelength. It is possible to assess each wavelength reflected by pulsing light integrated inside the veins having specific sensor at the specific wavelengths onto the surface of the umbrella and then absorbing and measuring the reflected unabsorbed light on a light-sensitive detector integrated in the NIR module. Then the module determines the amount of reflected light and turn the analogue signal to an electronic signal. The electronic signal then gets transmitted to the microcontroller. Then the microcontroller process the signal by using algorithms and high-speed signal processing to identify location of veins over the forearm.

[0026] Further, an augmented reality projection unit installed over the body 1 and actuated by the microcontroller to project laser light over the forearm to highlight location over the forearm with veins in order to aware the medical practitioner regrading location of the veins. Augmented reality is an interactive experience that enhances the real world with the computer generated perceptual information. Using software, apps, and hardware such as AR glasses, augmented reality overlays digital content onto real-life forearm that aware about the location of the veins to the medical practitioner. The identified location of the forearm is shown over an OLED screen 3 that is installed over the body 1 to enable the medical practitioner to select a vein in which a needle is to be inserted along with an angle at which the needle is to be inserted.

[0027] The OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) display panel comprises of a polymer display screen 3 on which electroluminescent organic semiconductor is fabricated, ribbon cable and driven board that is attached with a power supply unit. Upon actuation of the display panel, the driven board regulates the illumination of the electroluminescent organic semiconductor in order to display the identified location of the forearm that enables the medical practitioner to select the portion.

[0028] Continually, an elongated hollow cylindrical member 5 having top and bottom end is configured within the body 1 in a manner that top and bottom end of the member 5 protrude out of the body 1 by means of a pair of elongated cavities crafted over upper and base portion of the body 1. A robotic arm 4 installed between the member 5 and body 1 to regulate angle of the member 5 in accordance with the medical practitioner -specified angle. The robotic arm 4 comprises of a shoulder, elbow and wrist. All these parts are configured with the microcontroller. The elbow is at the middle section of the arm 4 that allows the upper part of the arm 4 to move the lower part independently. Lastly, the wrist is at the tip of the upper arm 4 and attached to the end effector works as hand for regulating angle of the member 5 in accordance with the medical practitioner -specified angle that enables the medical practitioner inserts the needle through the member 5 in order to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in accordance with the medical practitioner-specified angle.

[0029] Further a laser beam projector is installed over the body 1 and actuated by the microcontroller to project a pair of laser beams to guide the medical practitioner to position head portion of the medical practitioner in between the projected laser beams in order to reduce chances of parallax error while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein. The laser beam projector comprises of a semiconductor laser diode, and a cavity that reflects and amplifies light. The microcontroller, upon receiving signals related to forearm, triggers the laser beam projector. The laser diode, when electrically stimulated by the microcontroller, emits coherent and focused light. This emitted laser beam is directed towards the medical practitioner to position head portion of the needle.

[0030] Further, an ultrasonic sensor installed over the body 1 to monitor distance of the needle from the medical practitioner-selected vein. The ultrasonic
sensor consists of a transducer that functions as both a transmitter and a receiver that works in collaboration to detect distance of the needle from the medical practitioner-selected vein. The transducer typically contains a piezoelectric crystal or a similar material. When an electrical signal is applied to the crystal it vibrates a high frequency, typically in the ultrasonic range above 20 kHz. When the transducer is activated, it converts the electrical energy into mechanical vibrations or waves. These vibrations are transmitted as a focused beam of ultrasonic waves received by the receiver that is monitored with the time known as the time of flight. With the recorded time and known speed of the medium, the microcontroller determines the distance of the needle from the medical practitioner-selected vein. Based on the detected distance the microcontroller actuates a speaker 7 installed over the body 1 to guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in an appropriate manner.

[0031] The speaker 7 works by converting electrical energy into sound energy. When the electric current is sent by the microcontroller, then a coil configured on a magnet of the speaker 7 induces a magnetic field. This makes a diaphragm moves back and forth which creates pressure waves in the air that the user perceives as a sound to insert the needle in the detected veins. A speed sensor is installed over the body 1 to monitor puncturing speed of the needle based on which the microcontroller actuates the speaker 7 to guide the medical practitioner regarding an appropriate speed to be maintained while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein. The speed sensor suitable for linear and angular displacements. Based on the electromagnetic induction principle the sensor measures when a metal target approaches the inductor a change of magnetic field happens. As per the law of induction, the sensor creates a voltage at outlet, which is proportional to the changing of a magnetic flux. This allows a current to flows through the inductor and connected wires to the output device, that is sent to the microcontroller that determines the speed and the medical practitioner is advised to insert the needle in the forearm with the detected veins.

[0032] Additionally, the speed sensor monitor puncturing speed of the needle based on which the microcontroller actuates the speaker 7 to guide the medical practitioner regarding an appropriate speed to be maintained while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein. The laser beam projector project the pair of laser beams to guide the medical practitioner to position head portion of the medical practitioner in between the projected laser beams in order to reduce chances of parallax error while puncturing the medical practitioner-selected vein.

[0033] A battery is associated with the device to supply power to electrically powered components which are employed herein. The battery is comprised of a pair of electrode named as a cathode and an anode. The battery use a chemical reaction of oxidation/reduction to do work on charge and produce a voltage between their anode and cathode and thus produces electrical energy that is used to do work in the device.

[0034] The present invention work best in the following manner where the elongated body 1 is positioned over the body 1 over the forearm of the user. The microphone 6 receive voice command of the medical practitioner regrading identifying veins over the user's forearm. The artificial intelligence based imaging unit 2 determines positioning of the forearm beneath aid body 1 and accordingly the microcontroller actuates the near-infrared light (NIR) module that identify location of veins over the forearm. The augmented reality projection unit project laser light over the forearm to highlight location over the forearm with veins in order to aware the medical practitioner regrading location of the veins and display over the OLED screen 3 that enable the medical practitioner to select the vein in which the needle is to be inserted along with the angle at which the needle is to be inserted. The elongated hollow cylindrical member 5 having top and bottom end by means of a pair of elongated cavities crafted over upper and base portion of the body 1. The robotic arm 4 regulate angle of the member 5 in accordance with the medical practitioner -specified angle. The medical practitioner inserts the needle through the member 5 in order to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in accordance with the medical practitioner-specified angle. The ultrasonic sensor monitor distance of the needle from the medical practitioner-selected vein. The speaker 7 guide the medical practitioner to insert the needle in the medical practitioner-selected vein in the appropriate manner.

[0035] Although the field of the invention has been described herein with limited reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. , Claims:1) A needle inserting assistive device for veins, comprising:

i) an elongated body 1 accessed by a medical practitioner to position said body 1 over a forearm of said user, wherein a microphone 6 is installed over said body 1 to receive voice command of said medical practitioner regrading identifying veins over said user's forearm;
ii) an artificial intelligence based imaging unit 2 installed over said body 1 and integrated with a processor for capturing and processing images of said forearm, wherein based on said captured images, said microcontroller linked with said processor, determines positioning of said forearm beneath aid body 1 and accordingly said microcontroller actuates a near-infrared light (NIR) module installed over said body 1 to identify location of veins over said forearm;
iii) an augmented reality projection unit installed over said body 1 and actuated by said microcontroller to project laser light over said forearm to highlight location over said forearm with veins in order to aware said medical practitioner regrading location of said veins, wherein an OLED screen 3 is installed over said body 1 to display said highlighted locations in order to enable said medical practitioner to select a vein in which a needle is to be inserted along with an angle at which said needle is to be inserted;
iv) an elongated hollow cylindrical member 5 having top and bottom end is configured within said body 1 in a manner that top and bottom end of said member 5 protrude out of said body 1 by means of a pair of elongated cavities crafted over upper and base portion of said body 1;
v) a robotic arm 4 installed between said member 5 and body 1 that is actuated by said microcontroller to regulate angle of said member 5 in accordance with said medical practitioner-specified angle, wherein said medical practitioner inserts said needle through said member 5 in order to insert said needle in said medical practitioner-selected vein in accordance with said medical practitioner-specified angle; and
vi) an ultrasonic sensor installed over said body 1 to monitor distance of said needle from said medical practitioner-selected vein based on which said microcontroller actuates a speaker 7 installed over said body 1 to guide said medical practitioner to insert said needle in said medical practitioner-selected vein in an appropriate manner.

2) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a speed sensor is installed over said body 1 to monitor puncturing speed of said needle based on which said microcontroller actuates said speaker 7 to guide said medical practitioner regarding an appropriate speed to be maintained while puncturing said medical practitioner-selected vein.

3) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a laser beam projector is installed over said body 1 and actuated by said microcontroller to project a pair of laser beams to guide said medical practitioner to position head portion of said medical practitioner in between said projected laser beams in order to reduce chances of parallax error while puncturing said medical practitioner-selected vein.

4) The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a battery is associated with said device for powering up electrical and electronically operated components associated with said device.

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