Echogenic medical needle
AssigneeCoco Research PTY Ltd.
InventorChristopher Mitchell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is disclosed a medical needle comprising a needle shaft that defines a longitudinal axis, a tip formed at one end of the shaft, and an ultrasonic reflector formed in an outer surface of the needle shaft. The reflector comprises a first reflector surface that is at an angle of no more than 35° to the longitudinal axis of the shaft and that faces towards the tip, and at least one additional reflector surface that forms an angle to the first reflector surface within the range of 75° to 105°, and that is substantially concave in a direction towards the first reflector surface.
Claims15
A medical needle comprising a needle shaft that defines a longitudinal axis, a tip formed at one end of the needle shaft, and an ultrasonic reflector formed in an outer surface of the needle shaft, the reflector comprising:
- a first reflector surface that is formed in the outer surface of the needle shaft at an angle of no more than 35° to the longitudinal axis of the needle shaft and that faces towards the tip of the needle, and
- at least one additional reflector surface formed in the outer surface of the needle shaft that forms an angle to the first reflector surface within the range of 75° to 105°, and that is substantially concave in a direction towards the first reflector surface,
- whereby ultrasound waves emitted by an ultrasound transducer can be reflected by the reflector back to the transducer as the needle is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the needle through a range of angles, and wherein the range of angles is approximately −60° to +60°, where 0° corresponds with a rotational position in which a plane of ultrasound waves emitted by the transducer is co-incident with a plane of symmetry of the reflector.
A medical needle comprising a needle shaft defining a longitudinal axis, a tip formed at one end of the needle shaft, and an ultrasonic reflector formed in an outer surface of the needle shaft, the reflector comprising:
- a first reflector surface that is formed in the outer surface of the needle shaft at an angle of no more than 35° to the longitudinal axis of the needle shaft and that faces towards the tip of the needle, and
- at least one additional reflector surface formed in the outer surface of the needle shaft that forms an angle to the first reflector surface within the range of 75° to 105°, and that has two or more convergent normals,
- whereby ultrasound waves emitted by an ultrasound transducer can be reflected by the reflector back to the transducer as the needle is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the needle through a range of angles, and wherein the range of angles is approximately −60° to +60°, where 0° corresponds with a rotational position in which a plane of ultrasound waves emitted by the transducer is co-incident with a plane of symmetry of the reflector.
A medical needle comprising:
- a tip formed at one end of a needle shaft, the needle shaft defining a longitudinal axis, and
- an ultrasonic reflector formed in an outer surface of the needle shaft and having three reflector surfaces that intersect to form a reflector vertex, the reflector being orientated with a first of the three reflector surfaces located entirely rearwardly of the reflector vertex with respect to the needle tip and being at an angle of no more than 35° to the longitudinal axis and facing towards the needle tip, and the reflector being symmetrical about a plane that is co-incident with the longitudinal axis of the needle shaft,
- whereby ultrasound waves emitted by an ultrasound transducer can be reflected by the reflector back to the transducer as the needle is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the needle through a range of angles, and wherein the range of angles is approximately −60° to +60°, where 0° corresponds with a rotational position in which a plane of ultrasound waves emitted by the transducer is co-incident with a plane of symmetry of the reflector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.