Veinlite® Transillumination Imaging of Superficial Veins - Simply the Best Vein Imaging System Anywhere for Sclerotherapy, Venous Access and Assisting with Intravenous Therapy

Shadow-Free Uniformity with Side-Transillumination
A new method of transillumination, called side-transillumination* is used in the Veinlite for better visualization of veins. This method is able to uniformly transilluminate a small region of the skin so that much better imaging of veins is achieved without shadows. Uniform transillumination means that smaller veins can be seen with great clarity. Side-transillumination method also allows for deeper penetration of light into tissue for vein imaging up to 6 mm in depth depending on the size of the vein. This technique is described in more detail here.

Transillumination and Skin Translucency
The side-transillumination* method shines light into the skin from outside the field of view so that it is pointed towards the center at a depth of approximately 2 cm. this concentration of light creates a bright virtual light source underneath the skin that moves with the Veinlite. Uniform transillumination of the skin is achieved anywhere on the body.  The depth of visualization of veins is between 3 and 6 mm depending on the color of the light used. The shorter wavelength orange light travels up to 3 mm of depth while the deeper red light can travel up to 6 mm deep. Transillumination light frequencies are greatly absorbed by deoxygenated hemoglobin in venous blood and show up as dark areas in the skin.

Transillumination Methods
Transillumination has been used for many years for imaging subsurface veins and some structures. The classical method of transillumination involves shining a light through a part of the body and observing. A bright light is directed into the skin and the area of interest is examined by viewing the translucent region around the light. This mode of transillumination is limited to objects that are a couple of cm thick since light is absorbed in tissue. The Venoscope device marketed for visualization of veins uses two light sources to better image the veins. While this device is better than a single light source, shadow areas are created between the light sources due to non-uniform illumination of the skin. The Veinlite, with its side-transillumination method, creates the most uniform transillumination of skin anywhere on the body.

Read Veinlite article in "Journal für Lymphologie" (View 284K PDF)

*Patent Number 5,146,923 - ® Registered trademarks of TransLite LLC