Verification of technical characteristics and performance of VeinViewer Flex, ICEN IN-G090-2 and AccuVein AV400 transillumination devices.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Transilluminator device allow healthcare professionals to visualize peripheral veins without using tourniquet. Aim of the study was to test the ability of three devices (Christie VeinViewer Flex (Christie, Lake Mary, Florida, USA), ICEN IN-G090-2 (ICEN Technology Company Limited, Guangdong, China) and AccuVein AV400 (AccuVein, New York, USA)) to present quality images thought defined criterion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study was designed as a comparison of technical characteristics, evaluation of image quality and assessment of applicability in different conditions (different viewing angels, conditions of lightning and image visibility under interference of humidity and body lotions) in reference person on two venipuncture sites. RESULTS: Devices have different technical characteristics and vary in optimal distance for good quality image (18-30 cm), number of presented veins (1-4), image dimension (6.0-90.3 cm2), length (1.5-8.0 cm) and thickness (2-5 mm) of the dominant blood vessel. Devices present different image visibility under different viewing angels, conditions of lightning and interference of humidity and body lotions (from good quality to unusable images). CONCLUSION: Transillumination devices differ in their technical characteristics and performance. The choice of the device should be based on the needs of the particular patient population and the intended use of the device.

Filling accuracy and imprecision of commercial evacuated sodium citrate coagulation tubes.

Current recommendations advocate that blood tubes for coagulation testing should be filled not less than 90% of their nominal filling volume, since under- or over-filling >10% may generate unreliable results of some hemostasis assays. This study was hence aimed to explore filling accuracy and precision of commercial blood tubes. Between-lot variations of 3 different lots (20 tubes per lot) of 3.2% citrate blood tubes manufactured by Becton Dickinson, Greiner and Kima were studied. One additional lot from each manufacturer was assessed in triplicate (three series of 20 tubes), to assess within-lot variation. All tubes were first weighed empty and then filled with distilled water by a syringe, under ideal filling conditions. Filled tubes were weighed again, in duplicate. For each 20 tubes series, mean bias (deviation from the ideal tube filling volume) and imprecision (coefficient of variation; CV%) were calculated. All biases were within ±10%. Within-lot and between-lot variation in filling volume was acceptable, and comprised between 0.4 and 2.4%. Greiner tubes were the most accurate (bias, -1.0 to 2.4%), followed by Kima (bias, -7.8 to -5.9%) and Becton Dickinson (bias, -9.6 to 3.3%) tubes. The highest between-lot difference was noted for Becton Dickinson tubes (up to 12.9%), followed by Greiner and Kima tubes (up to 3.4 and 1.8%, respectively). Although coagulation tubes filling accuracy was within ±10% for all three tested manufacturers, the overall bias was found to be variable among manufacturers and lots. Major effort shall be made by blood tube manufacturers for improving standardization of their products.