Shiao Eric Chiwei, Kuo Po-Ling
Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Health Science and Wellness Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
J Clin Med. 2019 Jul 18;8(7):1048. doi: 10.3390/jcm8071048.
Ultrasound-guided injection is a widely used technique, however, it takes substantial amounts of time for novices to master the skill. The most critical issue to improve the accuracy of the injection is to align the needle with the scan plane of the ultrasound beam and orient the needle angle after piercing skin to aim at the targeted tissue. In the present study, we developed a two-dimensional laser align device to assist physicians to accurately position the needle in the scan plane and advance it at an angle correctly pointing to the target. The device is inexpensive, light-weighted, and easy to fabricate and accommodate for any types of ultrasound probe. Statistical analysis revealed that the assistance with our device significantly reduced the successful targeting time and times of retargeting in comparison with the traditional freehand approach or only with in-plane assistance for inexperience subjects. Our results indicate that the device exhibits great potential in effectively reducing the learning time to master the skill and speeding up the procedure for ultrasound-guided injection.
超声引导注射是一种广泛应用的技术，然而，新手要掌握这项技术需要花费大量时间。提高注射准确性的最关键问题是使针头与超声束的扫描平面对齐，并在刺穿皮肤后调整针的角度以瞄准目标组织。在本研究中，我们开发了一种二维激光对准装置，以协助医生在扫描平面中准确地定位针头，并以正确指向目标的角度推进针头。该装置价格低廉、重量轻，易于制造且可适配任何类型的超声探头。统计分析表明，与传统徒手方法或仅为缺乏经验的受试者提供平面内辅助相比，使用我们的装置进行辅助显著缩短了成功靶向时间和重新靶向次数。我们的结果表明，该装置在有效减少掌握该技术的学习时间和加快超声引导注射程序方面具有巨大潜力。
