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.”

Dr. Stossel with children from the village Mochila in Zambia.

Twice a year, volunteers from the organization travel to Mochila to provide services.  Dr. Stossel is also collaborating with doctors from the Hematology Department of University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia to develop a program to tackle the highly-prevalent sickle cell disease.  More information on the program can be found here.

Both the village and the hospital are deprived of useful medical equipment.  Havel’s is pleased to donate necessary bone marrow needles to Options for Children for use in the program.

For more information on Options for Children, visit http://optionsforchildren.org.

Some in the industry are surprised to hear that CRNA’s are using ultrasound for peripheral nerve blocks, but not Havel’s. We have been marketing our echogenic needles to AANA members since the products release in 2007. Now as ultrasound continues to spread throughout the hospital, CRNA students seem to know as much or more about ultrasound as the experienced veterans.

For now, both groups are focused on improving their skills and technique as they are well aware ultrasound is here to stay. Havel’s is also here to stay, releasing even more echogenic products in the coming months. Be on the lookout for the new EchoTuohy™ in September and the new EchoAccess® and EchoCath™ coming in 2011.

You can see Havel’s echogenic needles for yourself in Booth #2416 at the ASA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA this October. Hope to see you there.

Read more here:  Certified Nurse Anesthetists Can Safely Go Solo, Study Suggests

Study Shows Benefits of Ultrasound-Guided Nerve Blocks

Physicians at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, assessed the abilities of 8 anesthesia residents and fellows and 12 staff anesthesiologists to recognize the spread of a simulated local injection around raisin targets embedded in a semi-opaque gelatin model.

The study’s participants were instructed to place a 22-gauge nerve block needle next to the model’s target structures using ultrasound guidance. After placement, the participants notified a research assistant, who either injected 1mL of water or made no injection at all. The participants were then asked to confirm or deny that the injection took place.

The study, published in the July issue of the journal Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, showed that residents and fellows correctly identified the injection’s spread – or lack of spread – 91% of the time, while staff anesthesiologists demonstrated a 93% accuracy rate.

Colin McCartney, MD, a Sunnybrook anesthesiologist and the study’s lead investigator, says that ultrasound is an easy way for anesthesia providers to determine that local anesthetic spread occurs in the correct place.

“This is tremendously important as failure to ensure the correct spread can lead to intravenous injection of local anesthetic with convulsions and cardiac arrest in patients,” he says. Other advantages of using ultrasound guidance during regional anesthesia include reducing PONV and faster post-op discharges.

Havel’s Inc. recently attended the Mayo Clinic Diagnostic & interventional Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Course in Rochester, MN from July 15-17th.

The clinic was very successful and the attendees from all over the United States were very excited about the information and skills that they were learning. It was very well organized with classes, breakout sessions, and hands on classes with a lot of information.

As the only company displaying needles at the clinic, Havel’s Inc. had a very busy table. We were featuring our Echoblock MSK ultrasound needles and our newly released Echoblock PTC needles. The attendees were very eager to sample the Echoblock PTC needles because of the Micro Laser Etching (MLE) near the tip, they felt that these needles would greatly help them with the ultrasound guided injections they were learning about.

Dr. Jay Smith of the Mayo Clinic, the host of the workshop and one of the instructors, took several of the Echoblock PTC needles to the cadaver workshop for the attendees to try. After using them he told me they looked great under ultrasound. Overall everyone seemed pleased with the items we were showing.

In 3,081 patients in Taiwan who underwent total knee or hip replacement surgeries, the likelihood of developing an SSI 30 days after surgery was 2.2 times greater for those who had general anesthesia than for those who had an epidural or spinal anesthesia.

Read more in Outpatient Surgery.

 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.

Congratulations Dr. Barash!