// the find
ElectronicCats/Vein-Finder
A reliable, easy-to-make and open source device!
An open-source hardware vein finder that uses red (625nm) and amber (610nm) LEDs to transiluminate skin and make veins visible for IV catheter insertion. Built on a PIC microcontroller with KiCad PCB designs, 3D-printable enclosure, and C firmware. This is a medical aid device for nursing/maker crossover folks, not a software project.
The wavelength selection (625nm red + 610nm amber) is backed by cited research rather than guesswork — they actually read the literature on skin tone coverage before picking LEDs. Offering both SMD and through-hole LED board variants is a practical choice that lowers the build barrier for hobbyists without SMD soldering gear. The KiCad files plus STL enclosure plus compiled hex means someone can order PCBs, print the case, and flash the firmware without a full toolchain. CI runs KiBot for DRC/schematic checks, which is more than most hobbyist hardware repos bother with.
7 stars and zero forks after months live means nobody has actually built this outside the team — internal-only testing on office colleagues is a weak validation for a medical device prototype. The firmware is a single main.c with a prebuilt hex blob; there's no build instructions, no MPLAB project config documented, and no explanation of the PWM brightness control implementation. The README warns the device isn't water or dust proof and can damage eyes, but there's no enclosure ventilation design or safe operating distance guidance — the safety section is two sentences covering two serious risks. No BOM, no sourcing notes for the specific LED part numbers at those wavelengths.