Actually, rewind that. Nurses didn’t used to have X-ray vision.

At Charlevoix Area Hospital, new equipment is offering an inside look at blood vessels and helping the medical team insert IVs more easily and quickly, with the aid of the VeinViewer.

“We’re a smaller hospital and don’t have an IV therapy department. All the nurses here need to start their own IVs,” said RN Kathy Jacobsen. “So, this equipment is definitely helpful.”

The VeinViewer uses near-infrared technology to locate a patient’s veins in the forearms or the top of the hand, where IVs are inserted. A green square of light illuminates the veins under the skin, giving nurses a clear view of the vein for IV insertion.

The VeinViewer does not require contact with the skin and it is compact, portable and offers various setting that clear the picture for arms that are hairy and also for older patients whose skin is often more wrinkled.

Jacobsen said the device, named an “Invention of the Year” by Time Magazine, is particularly helpful when inserting IVs into children, who have smaller vessels, and patients who are dehydrated, because those veins are more difficult to access. Further, it helps nurses find larger veins needed for blood transfusions, for instance.

“If we need it, it’s another tool for us,” Jacobsen added.

Diane Kidder, vice president of staff services for CAH, said the equipment was purchased through donations made to the Charlevoix Area Hospital Foundation, upon a recommendation by Charlevoix pediatrician Dr. Rod Tinney.

“We have a lot of very generous donors in our community,” Kidder said. “We are very fortunate.”