Although I am a recent college graduate, I continually look for projects to work on that will test my knowledge and hone my skills. This Vein Finder project, which focused primarily on soldering, accomplished just that.

​

As a Biomedical Engineer, this project interested me because of its relevance, simplicity, and educational value. At its core, this project uses red LED's to illuminate the tissue and reveal the darker, more dense veins within it. Although not practical in a clinical sense, this device is useful to view vein structure and to practice prototyping skills.

​

To begin this project, I first cut sections out of the top and bottom of a plastic enclosure. Because the LED's took up more space than the viewing aperture alone, I had to account for this and cut out a larger bottom section. Following this, I took the perf board and cut it to size for the inside of the enclosure. I was careful to consider the different sizes of the cut out sections, as well as make room for the toggle switch powering the whole device.

​

With the enclosure prepared and the perf board cut to size, the next step was to begin soldering the circuit. This involved careful planning, as each component of the circuit had to be soldered into its specific place and oriented in a certain order. Furthermore, the soldering had to be done cleanly and effectively to ensure proper connections between all components. Any error would result in an incomplete circuit or a short.

​

Besides the soldering and circuitry, it was also important to consider the wiring and insulation used to complete the circuit at each terminal. In order to fit the whole circuit within the enclosure, wires had to be crossed. To prevent shorts in the circuit, I made sure all exposed wiring was insulated and properly labeled.

​

With all these careful considerations, I was able to successfully build a Vein Finder. Although a relatively simple one, this project served me well in sharpening old skills and developing new ones. I thoroughly enjoyed the soldering, circuitry, and project-planning that went into this summer project.

​

Shown below are pictures taken throughout the project's progress. The image on the left shows the Vein Finder in mid-construction. At this point in the project the viewing apertures have been cut out of the top and bottom, and the perf board has been cut to fit inside the device. The circuit itself has also been started, with 3mm 2.1-V red LED's being soldered in series with 56-ohm resistors.

 

The image on the right shows the bottom view of the completed Vein Finder. As you can see, the bottom aperture has been cut larger than the top to accommodate the LED's. You will also notice some kind of shield around the LED's. This is actually thermo-plastic that has been molded into place and painted black to improve sight through the viewing aperture and to prevent light pollution.

​

If you have any questions about this project or about how it has honed my engineering skills, feel free to contact me through the interface on the home page at jcharris725@gmail.com.

​