Figure 1           The placement of a needle into a patient, no matter the reason, is always a challenging and risky procedure. Needle visualization throughout the procedure is arguably the most important, and most challenging aspect of the

                      procedure. Mechanical needle guides are engineered to keep the needle aligned within the sound beam of the ultrasound transducer. Some needle guides have predetermined angles of approach, as seen in figure 1.

Figure 2

Others are designed to allow the clinician to change the angle of approach during the procedure, as seen in figure 2. Which needle guide to use is often a personal preference, or is determined by the procedure being performed. Because of mechanical guides’ ability to keep the needle within the sound beam for visualization by ultrasound throughout the procedure, needle guides can and do simplify procedures by: