A blood vessel detection device includes a pair of light sources that project lights having different wavelengths through the skin into a detection area of a patient and a photodetector that receives reflected lights originating from the light sources. Logic of a microcontroller of the device processes the intensity data related to the reflected lights having the different wavelengths to determine the presence of a blood vessel within the detection area and/or the identity of the blood vessel as a vein or an artery. The wavelengths are chosen such that hemoglobin within a blood vessel reduces the reflected light intensity different amounts according to an oxygen content of the hemoglobin. The intensities of one or both reflected lights is used to detect the presence of a blood vessel and a difference or a ratio of the intensities is used to identify the blood vessel as a vein vs an artery.