Getting Needled Less Of A Problem Thanks To NASA Technology

Anyone who's ever winced in pain as a nurse with a needle tried to find a vein in which to start an intravenous flow or draw a blood sample will really appreciate NASA's latest technological breakthrough.

Working with Frank Creaghan of Applied Biotech Products of Lafayette, La., NASA engineer Eric Corder of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has helped to devise a better way to transilluminate the patient's skin so as to cause the veins to show up more clearly, thereby making a first-time proper insertion of the needle if not a cinch, then at least much easier.

Following a visit to his firm last December by Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers, the Marshall Center's Technology Transfer Office representative to Louisiana, and Glenn Gilmore of the Louisiana Productivity Center in Lafayette, Creaghan requested assistance from the Marshall Center to improve the design of a prototype Venoscope®. Applied Biotech Products holds the patent for the Venoscope® design and the technology.

The Venoscope® is a means for "transillumination of subcutaneous tissue" - or in simple terms - a means of seeing a blood vessel more clearly so as to more quickly and easily insert a needle into it. The Venoscope® emits a bright light that is reflected by tissue below the skin. The veins absorb light, instead of reflecting it, and thus show up clearly as dark lines.

Applied Biotech Products came to Marshall seeking technological advice that would enable the firm's device to achieve the same light output with greater efficiency. Help was sought in the technical aspects of light transmission through skin tissue and suggestions were solicited regarding ways to achieve better visualization of the blood vessels in a smaller, more efficient package.

Dr. Rodgers canvassed the Astrionics Laboratories at the NASA field center for ideas. Eric Corder in the lab's electro-optics branch provided the solution. "I tested several different designs," Corder said, "then provided Applied Biotech Products with a design for a type of circuit that best satisfied the firm's need for this type of application."

The recommended design was adopted by Applied Biotech Products, which is now moving to commercialize the new Venoscope®. The new device may be flown on a future Space Shuttle mission to test its applicability in a microgravity environment.

Louisiana firms with down-to-earth problems such as Applied Biotech Products' are finding out-of-this-world solutions through NASA's Southeast Regional Technology Transfer Alliance.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, and Southern Technology Applications Center in Florida have teamed up with the Marshall Center to speed the transfer of technologies from the nation's space program to businesses, academic institutions and entrepreneurs across the U.S. The successful resolution of Applied Biotech Products' request is only the latest in a litany of success stories.

Technology Transfer makes available to industry thousands of items developed for use in space but which also have down-to-earth industrial applications. Lightweight alloys, composite materials, heat resistant shielding, insulating foams, welding technologies, computer software, and a host of other inventions, developments and technologies are finding commercial applications each day.

In Louisiana, Dr. Rodgers is the primary NASA contact for firms seeking assistance. She may be reached at Mail Code: LA20, MSFC, AL 35812. She coordinates her efforts with Andy Bush at the Louisiana Department of Economic Development's Technology Transfer Office, operated by the Louisiana Business and Technology Center at Louisiana State University; and Gordon Dyer of Lockheed Martin Manned Space Systems in New Orleans. Through this team, Louisiana firms can access the technological expertise and resources of all 752 members of the Federal Laboratory Consortium.

Other NASA activities in Louisiana have included research into developing composite materials for off-shore oil drilling platforms, enhancing quality control of weld seams at a cookware manufacturer, development of improved packaging for shipping seafood, recycling rubber tires to manufacture irrigation hose and road paving material, helping a pie maker with insulation to get goods to market oven fresh, and developing a vacuum conveyor system for the movement of very light, bulk dry goods such as talc.