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Neurologist Moacir Schnapp (left), May's and Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center, and Dr. Kit S. Mays, (right) demonstrate use of VeinViewer on a patient's hand.

Memphis neurologist Dr. Moacir Schnapp of Mays & Schnapp Pain Clinic and Rehabilitation Center was impressed with a device he saw in New York at WIRED magazine's NextFest, the World's Fair of Technology, but he didn't know it had been invented right under his nose in Memphis.

Luminetx Corp., a Memphis-based company, was not only invited to attend the high-tech event, but its newest product, the VeinViewer Imaging System™, was featured as the poster child for the NextFest advertising campaign.

Obsidian Public Relations reports that May's and Schnapp was the first pain center in the world to integrate the technology into patient care.

"I attended NextFest to get a glimpse into what the future holds, especially as it relates to the biosciences," Schnapp said. "And to my surprise and delight, I found the Cinderella of the technology ball was born right down the road from us in Memphis. We knew we had to have it in our clinic. We're a pain clinic and utilize a lot of interventional procedures. We decided our patients had already had enough pain and we didn't need to subject them to multiple IVs. The VeinViewer projects a light onto the skin and outlines the veins for us so we can see where they are under the skin in real time. If you can see the veins through the top of the skin you can find the veins, but the deeper ones you can't see with your eyes. Many times patients have lost the superficial ones from having too many IVs and the veins collapse and disappear. This helps us see exactly where the deeper ones are that we can't see with our eyes."

The VeinViewer provides clinicians with a safe, noninvasive adjunct technology for clinical treatments and procedures including, PICC line insertions, IV insertions, routine venipuncture, blood and plasma donations and treatment for varicose and spider veins.

Venipuncture is one of the most anxiety-provoking and often painful procedures performed by nurses and phlebotomist. Although some are quite good at it, most seem to poke and prod to find the right vein and then finally insert the needle, only to have to move it around or back it out because they've overshot it or missed the vein completely. Even when the insertion is not painful, patients undergoing illnesses such as cancer that require numerous needle sticks are left with dried up vessels and healthcare providers have to go deeper to find a good one. That makes it even more iffy to find a good blood vessel the first time. Experts estimate that 1 billion venipunctures are performed annually around the world.

The Luminetx VeinViewer™ uses a combination of near-infrared light and patented technologies to build and project a light image of vascular structures directly on the skin in real time. By imaging the vasculature, clinicians have the ability to visualize the location of the target area regardless of a patient's age, body type or skin tone. It incorporates DLP® technology from Texas Instruments. Healthcare professionals can keep their hands free during procedures.

Jim Phillips, president and CEO of Luminetx, said the most amazing thing to him is that his company made the short list its first year of being in business. It now employs 45 people and is looking for its third round of investors. The first two rounds produced $15 million.

"It's big for us. We hit the list, and the major New York investment banks started to call. They've already been down to see us," Phillips said. "This technology is changing the face of patient care and we truly believe it will become a new standard of care throughout the world. We're thrilled that Mays & Schnapp Pain Clinic is joining the ranks of premier healthcare facilities nationwide that are using VeinViewer to greatly enhance each patient's experience."

Dr. Joel A. Saltzman, medical director of anesthesia at LeBonheur Children's Hospital, said the VeinViewer technology has transformed the hospital's ability to deliver compassionate care.

"With VeinViewer, we've reduced not only the number of sticks, but also the levels of stress associated with multiple sticks for the practitioner, the patient and the patient's family," Saltzman said.

Children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will also benefit from the new VeinViewer. The world-renowned children's hospital received one as a gift of Stanford Private Wealth Management, the next title sponsor of the FedEx St. Jude Classic golf tournament.

In addition, in 2004, TIME magazine listed the Luminetx VeinViewer prototype as one of "The Most Amazing Inventions of 2004." Luminetx was chosen by Red Herring, which selects the edgiest high-tech companies for its "Top 100 in North America Most Likely to Succeed" list.

"We've been accused of being too cautious in picking companies," said Red Herring editor-in-chief Joel Dreyfuss. "This year, we decided to take some risks favoring 'revolutionary over evolutionary.'"

The Luminetx VeinViewer costs about $25,000, but Schnapp said it's worth it.

"I'm just sorry more people don't realize it and they're all not using it," said Schnapp. "Patients come here after weeks, months or years of pain and we try to minimize it in whatever way we can. This does that. Drawing blood or inserting an IV can be stressful, but by using this device, we will be able to increase the success rate of initial attempts. This is about staying on the leading edge of medicine and doing what's best for our patients."

Steve Bares, president and CEO of Memphis BioWorks Foundation, said Luminetx and other innovators are changing how investors see Memphis.

The attention "creates opportunity for jobs and investment back into the community," Bares said.

"Additional opportunity emerges out of the companies themselves. Look at Richards Company, which spawned Wright Medical and Medtronic. There's a lot more going on in Memphis than what people traditionally think. That's good for the investment community, good for the economic community, good for everybody."



June 2007

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