Central Venous Access Catheter Placement Using the Sonic Flashlight

Study Summary

The investigators have developed a new device for guiding invasive procedures with ultrasound (US), which they call the sonic flashlight (SF). They attach a half-silvered mirror and a small flat-panel monitor directly to an ultrasound transducer to project a virtual image of the US scan into its actual location within the patient. This permits the operator to guide a needle through the skin by aiming directly at the image, using natural hand-eye coordination rather than looking away from the patient at a conventional display. The device requires no tracking or head-mounted apparatus, and provides an intuitive merger of the visual exterior of the patient with an in situ ultrasound image, which can be simultaneously viewed by others assisting the operator. The investigators believe the SF will increase the accuracy, safety, and speed for a wide variety of invasive procedures, and will require less extensive training than conventional US displays. Given the wide variety of procedures for which the SF could be used, the investigators have narrowed their focus to applying it to a single application: vascular access. They have demonstrated clinically that the SF can be used successfully to guide the placement of the peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) lines. The research proposed here will expand this application to include the insertion of other central venous access (CVA) lines through the internal jugular vein, subclavian vein, and femoral vein. The historical approach to CVA line placements has involved the physical exam and identification of visible landmarks. With the introduction and common usage of ultrasound, it has become routine to use ultrasound guidance. Much of the difficulty in learning conventional ultrasound (CUS) guided procedures stems from the displaced sense of hand-eye coordination that occurs when the operator looks away from the operating field to see the ultrasound display. The SF directly addresses many of these issues and therefore t