Medical Reports: High-tech Testing

WSVN -- Four-year-old Isaiah Parrish is recovering from a lawnmower accident in a room filled with balloons, stuffed animals and well wishes, but a glowing beam of green is what captivates him and keeps him distracted.

The light is much more than a diversion from the numerous needle sticks and the IVs he's had to get. It helps nurses see his veins and choose the good ones in one quick, easy shot.

Becky Chambers: "If we can pick a better vein, then hopefully we can get an IV or get a blood draw with less sticks."

It's called a vein viewer. The device shines a green light over the skin and makes all the veins in the area appear as black lines.

Becky Chambers: "It shoots like what they are calling near infrared light that reflects hemoglobin, which is blood, so, that way, you can see the veins, and you're not seeing tendons or anything else."

Debbie Draker's son Jacob was born seven weeks premature. Nurses had to stick him several times because he had tiny, flat veins.

Debbie Draper: "It's very trying on a mom's nerves to have to watch them keep sticking your baby to try to catch a vein."

The new device is helping nurses and doctors give precise shots, and, at the same time, it's bringing less pain to patients.

For Debbie, it's piece of mind.

Debbie Draper: "He doesn't cry or anything anymore as to where they keep having to stick him, and he would just cry, and it'd break my heart."

Diana Diaz: "Health care professionals also say the vein viewer can even save money because it takes less time and fewer materials for nurses and doctors to draw blood or insert an IV."