Patent ID: 7169155

Claim:
A needle guiding apparatus comprising: a base defining an opening therethrough; an outer rim disposed substantially completely around a perimeter of the base, the base and the outer rim defining an aperture between the perimeter and the outer rim, and the base being rotatable relative to the outer rim; a guide platform disposed adjacent to the opening, the guide platform being rotatable about a rotation axis, the rotation axis extending through the opening and having a common point along the rotation axis; a pivot disposed at least partially within the guide platform and being rotatable about a pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to the rotation axis; and a guide shaft disposed at least partially within the pivot and extending along a longitudinal axis from a first end of the guide shaft to a second end of the guide shaft, the longitudinal axis intersecting with the rotation axis at the common point, the guide shaft being rotatable within a plane defined by the pivot axis, the rotation axis, and the common point, and comprising a radiopaque material between the first end and a locus along the guide shaft normal to the longitudinal axis at the common point, the radiopaque material extending to the locus, the locus located immediately adjacent to a material being less radiopaque than the radiopaque material.