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The Pokémon Go craze may have
tapered off, but key takeaways
remain: Users downloaded the
mobile app more than 500 million
times, and until the craze abated,
hordes of fans flocked to malls,
memorials, and even cemeteries
trying to capture a rare virtual
pocket monster or accrue points to
progress in the game.
What can we learn here? That
augmented reality (AR) engages
users and enables them to see and
do what they couldn’t before. The
social game that blended physical
and virtual worlds propelled the
AR to the forefront of technologies
that have the potential to transform
industries. What’s more, we can
draw on how various industries
like medicine have applied AR
to ease procedures and educate
practitioners.
image (Figure 1) shows the veins as
a web of black lines on a background
of red.
AR vein illumination can increase
the first-stick success rate by up
to 3.5 times, which increases first-
time success and leads to increased
patient satisfaction, reduced pain,
reduced workload, and reduced
cost. In a surgical application, vein
illumination can help the surgeon
to identify the optimal incision site,
which reduces bleeding and lowers
costs.
Surgical Navigation
For surgeons, AR offers a hands-
free and seamless way to access
digital information while performing
a delicate operation. German
technology supplier Scopis has
just introduced an application that
combines Microsoft’s HoloLens
Shaping Smarter Cities: More Than Meets the Eye:
Augmented Reality in Medical Applications
Paul Pickering
AR inMedical Applications
Vein Visualization
Venipuncture, the technique of
puncturing a vein to draw blood or
deliver an intravenous injection, is
one of the most common medical
procedures. Some patients, though,
present extra challenges, including
the elderly, burn victims, drug
abusers, and patients undergoing
chemotherapy. Of the three million
procedures performed daily in
the U.S., an estimated 30 percent
require multiple attempts before
finding a suitable vein.
Augmented reality can help.
Huntington, NY company AccuVein
uses noninvasive infrared (IR)
technology to scan the target site
and display the underlying vein
structure. Because the hemoglobin
in blood absorbs more red light than
the surrounding tissue, the resulting
54 l New-Tech Magazine Europe