Evaluation of vascular puncture needles with specific modifications for enhanced ultrasound visibility: In vitro study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine which modification to a vascular puncture needle results in increased visualization during ultrasound (US)-guided vascular puncture.


METHODS
We evaluated US images of a phantom made of degassed gelatin and each of the following four modified versions of a commercially available vascular puncture needle (18 G): re-cut needle, dimple needle, rough-surface needle (rough over the sections of needle located 3-6 mm from the tip), and a needle with four side holes (side holes covered by the sheath). An unmodified commercially available puncture needle was used as a control. Five interventional radiologists evaluated image quality according to the following classification grade: I, invisible; II, poor; III, moderate; IV, good; V, excellent.


RESULTS
The highest score for needle visualization was obtained for the needle with four side holes. The re-cut needle scored the same as the control. Multiple comparisons were conducted using overall evaluation scores among the commercially available needle, dimple needle, rough-surface needle (3-6 mm), and the needle with four side holes. A significantly higher score was obtained for the needle with four side holes (P < 0.05/6).


CONCLUSIONS
The needle with four side holes was prominently visualized and gained a significantly higher score (compared with the other needles) in a phantom evaluation.
Nobuyuki Kawai, Hiroki Minamiguchi, Morio Sato, Motoki Nakai, Hiroki Sanda, Takami Tanaka, Akira Ikoma, Kouhei Nakata, Shintaro Shirai, Tetsuo Sonomura, Department of Radiology, Wakayama Medical University, 811-1 Kimiidera, Wakayama-shi, Wakayama 641-8510, Japan.
Nobuyuki
N
Kawai
Hiroki
H
Minamiguchi
Morio
M
Sato
Motoki
M
Nakai
Hiroki
H
Sanda
Takami
T
Tanaka
Akira
A
Ikoma
Kouhei
K
Nakata
Shintaro
S
Shirai
Tetsuo
T
Sonomura