KING

The sonic flashlight can see inside a patient's skin.

Nurse Lisa Speney routinely pokes and prods patients who need chemotherapy or other drugs, but she'd welcome anything that would help her find the right spot.

"A nice big X-ray machine that you can put over someone's arm so you know exactly where to go," she said.

Now, a device called the sonic flashlight can help. It allows doctors to see inside a patient's skin.

"You look through the mirror at the patient, and you can see a reflective display floating inside the patient," said Dr. George Stetten, a Biomedical Engineer at Carnegie Mellon/University of Pittsburgh.

The device is mounted on the outside of an ultrasound wand. The mirror creates a virtual image of the patient's vein. It can also be used during biopsies.

Another tool called the micro-debrider helps remove tumors or other blockages in the throat.

Dr. William Lunn says it's safer than the standard cutting tools.

"It's smaller, more precise, and allows doctors to have a better view when they are doing airway endoscopes surgery," said Lunn.

It gave Michael Jones his voice back after cartilage in his airways made it hard to breathe.

"He didn't talk much because he says he sounded like a robot and didn't want the children to laugh at him," said Michael's mom, Henrietta.

The micro-debrider can also be used for orthopedics, bone and joint work and by plastic surgeons to do liposuction.     

The micro-debrider is in use now. The sonic flashlight is still in clinical trials.