Havel’s Incorporated, the Cincinnati-based market leader in echogenic needles, has announced the release of a new echogenic ultrasound needle which could help reduce radiation exposure. Last month, Havel’s Incorporated released four new echogenic needles using their new, innovative Micro Laser Etching (MLE™) technology, which creates multiple angled surfaces to reflect sound waves back to the transducer even at steep insertion angles.

The new needle, the Echogenic EchoTuohy™ Epidural Needle, will be used for ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blocks, epidural catheter placement, and epidural steroid injections. As ultrasound image quality continues to improve, many practitioners are looking for ways to avoid radiation exposure for themselves and their patients. Those switching to ultrasound guidance for epidural steroid injections will be happy to see the reflection from Havel’s MLE™ echogenic feature as they guide their injection to its target. The portability of ultrasound units, the expense of big fluoroscopy equipment, and the growth of pain management are all reasons why people are turning to ultrasound guided procedures and to Havel’s new echogenic needles.

Havel’s does something similar with their EchoStim® and EchoBlock® products using their patented Corner Cube Reflectors, or CCR® marks, which indent the needle slightly making it impossible to pass wires or catheters through the cannula. Now with the MLE™ technology users are free to pass wires or catheters through the cannula without obstruction. John Barrett, the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Havel’s Inc. said, “Once we had the technology to make needles echogenic without affecting the inner diameter, I knew a Tuohy Epidural Needle was our next logical addition to the line.”

 The market leader in echogenic needles for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia releases four new innovative echogenic needles. 

Micro Laser Etching on PTC Needle

 

CINCINNATI, July 12/Havel’s Incorporated/ – Havel’s Incorporated, the Cincinnati-based market leader in echogenic needles, announces the release of a new line of needles with Micro Laser Etching near the tip.  “I am very excited about the new MLE™ echogenic feature because it does not affect the inner diameter of the needle, allowing users to pass wires or catheters through the cannula without obstruction,” says John Barrett, vice president of sales & marketing for Havel’s Incorporated.  The new MLE™ technology allows for a much larger variety of sizes. 

Known for their patented Corner Cube Reflectors, or CCR® marks, Havel’s revolutionized the ultrasound needle industry.  CCR® marks near the tip of the needle reflect sound waves back to the transducer, showing anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists exactly where the tip of the needle is under ultrasound.   Instead of CCR® reflectors, which slightly reduce the inner diameter of the needle, the new needles have Micro Laser Etching, or MLE™, near the tip to reflect sound waves back to the transducer.  The tip is therefore visible under ultrasound with no reduction of inner diameter.  “We hope to eventually use the new MLE™ technology on a variety of products for use throughout the hospital,” Barrett says. 

The new needles include the EchoBlock® PTC for Ultrasound Guided Pain Injections and the EchoBlock® PTC30 for Ultrasound Guided Peripheral Nerve Blocks.  The AccuTarg® Quincke and the AccuTarg® Chiba point needles feature the MLE™ reflectors and can be used in radiology and for ultrasound guided procedures.

The American Dental Association has launched a program with Temple University to train new dental team members as part of a pilot program that works in communities where residents “…have limited access to dental care.”

Temple University will recruit and train Community Dental Health Coordinators from urban locations in Philadelphia over the next two years.

To learn more, click here.

“The Pain Summit confirmed that the felt need for better pain care in America reaches across all medical fields. Every day, tens of millions of U.S. citizens are suffering from immobilizing pain that affects their jobs, their families, and their spirit; frankly, our doctors are often not trained well enough and our health care system is not organized appropriately to be able to help these patients. We can offer better care. We have the clinical science to start the process. But, funding is needed to educate patients and the public, to streamline medical systems, and to improve and standardize the education of medical students, the training of residents in all specialties, and the training of pain medicine specialists,” AAPM President Rollin M. Gallagher, MD, MPH, explained.

To read more, click here.

Society of Interventional Radiology

The New England Journal of Medicine has published information on a new safe, nonsurgical option for treatment of uterine fibroids. The article describes the benefits of Uterine Fibroid Embolization in Clinical Therapeutics. This interventional radiology treatment could possibly decrease the hysterectomy rate in the United States.

To read more, check out the press release from the Society of Interventional Radiology here.

Havel's Partners with Canadian Hospital Specialties

Havel’s partners with Canadian Hospital Specialties, to release EchoStim® and EchoBlock® Ultrasound needles in Canada

Havel’s Incorporated has partnered with CHS, Canadian Hospital Specialties, which will become the exclusive distributor of Havel’s EchoStim® and EchoBlock® Ultrasound Needles throughout Canada.

Canadian Hospital Specialties Ltd. is a leading supplier of regional anesthesia products to healthcare facilities and clinics across Canada. Its Med-Rx® brand is well recognized as being an innovative family of products, focused on quality and value. Scott Lees, Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Canadian Hospital Specialties shares Havel’s excitement about the expansion. “The EchoStim® and EchoBlock® Needles provide best in class technology to our customers in the rapidly expanding ultrasound guided regional anesthesia market. We are thrilled to be the exclusive representative of these products here in Canada,” says Lees.

The EchoStim® and EchoBlock® needles offer ground-breaking technology for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia. Both feature patented corner cube reflectors (CCR™) providing multiple angled surfaces near the tip for maximum reflection even at steep injection angles. Equipped with a standard plug that fits most nerve stimulators, the EchoStim® Echogenic Insulated Needle can be used with or without ultrasound guidance. The EchoBlock® Echogenic Non-Insulated Needle has fixed injection tubing, and is used under ultrasound guidance by those no longer using nerve stimulators. The EchoStim Collection of needles provides healthcare workers with a more visible needle tip, making procedures safer for patients and easier for practitioners.