Smartphone aided real-time blood vein detection system

Abstract

This paper aims to develop a real-time integrated system for the detection of the blood vein utilizing an Android Mobile App. The system is intended to be a low cost solution for medical teams at clinics, emergency rooms and hosptials. The system reduces the enjuries incurred due to inaccuracies during the process of frequent needle injection when blood vein is not visible during patient’s skin inspection. Illuminated infrared light in the blood cells of the vein is absorbed due to the manifestation of the Haemoglobin in blood and the IR non-blocking camera can capture the vein patterns in the IR light spectrum. Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization (CLAHE) algorithm was used to enhance the pattern of the vein in the Android application developed using OpenCV3. Developed system can detect the veins up to 7mm underneath of human skin in real time with a frame rate of 25fps. This is a far better improvement than commercial systems that can detect veins only below 10mm underneath the skin. Moreover, this system not only focused on needle infusion but also it can be used to indicate the place of bleeding for the clots from the human body strokes, etc. in the upper layer of skin. It can also be used to detect and measure liquids in encapsulated in confined dark bottles, for example, liquid chemical pouring into the bottles in the chemical companies, liquid medicine pouring to bottles, etc. The system can be further developed to detect skin infection and other dermatological diseases underneath the skin.