Vein Finder in Oncology: A Clinical Trial Measuring Comfort and Trust in Lung Cancer Patients

Lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy face a progressive and painful problem: repeated peripheral cannulation damages their veins over time. First-attempt success rates that reach 65–87% in general adults can drop to as low as 40% in cancer patients with chemotherapy-induced vascular damage .

Failed attempts mean more pain, more anxiety, and — critically — eroding trust between patients and the nurses who care for them. A clinical trial currently underway in Turkey is taking a different approach to measuring what a vein finder device can actually do for these patients.

The device
A vein finder device using near-infrared (NIR) light at 700–950 nm wavelengths to create real-time vein maps up to 15 mm deep .

The study design
This is a randomized controlled trial at Ataturk University Research Hospital Chemotherapy Unit in Erzurum, Turkey . 160 lung cancer patients will be randomized into two groups of 80:

• Intervention group: catheterization guided by the vein finder device

• Control group: standard palpation and inspection

The same trained nurse performs all catheterizations to minimize operator bias .

What makes this trial different
Most vein finder studies focus on hard endpoints like first-attempt success rate and procedure time. This trial does too — but its primary outcomes are different:

• Patient comfort during the procedure

• Procedural pain (measured on a Visual Analog Scale)

• Nurse-patient trust (measured with a validated trust scale)

Secondary outcomes include first-attempt success rate, procedure duration, and complication rates .

The qualitative component
After the quantitative phase, 15–20 patients from the intervention group will participate in in-depth interviews (30–45 minutes) about their experience with the vein finder device. The researchers want to know whether patients perceive the technology as safe, comfortable, and preferable to standard care .

Why it matters
This trial represents a shift in how vein finder devices are evaluated. Success rates and procedure times matter — but for oncology patients who face cannulation repeatedly over months of treatment, comfort and trust may matter just as much. If the results confirm that NIR-assisted catheterization improves the patient experience, it strengthens the case for vein finder devices as a standard tool in chemotherapy units, not just a rescue option for difficult veins.

The study started in November 2025, with primary completion expected in August 2026