Patent ID: 7014610

Claim:
An echogenic medical device comprising a porous polymeric material having a second acoustic impedance that is at least a portion of a structural component of an echogenic medical device having a first acoustic impedance, and a plurality of porous particles, wherein said porous particles comprise one of porous polyethylene beads and hollow glass beads, wherein the plurality of porous particles are sufficiently porous to result in a weight gain of between about 10% and about 30% upon immersion in an aqueous solution, wherein individual particles have a diameter dimension between about one micrometer and about one millimeter, and wherein the structural component comprises one of: a medical electrical lead, an implantable stent, a central venous catheter, a guidewire, a midline catheter, an interventional catheter, a shunts, a cannula, drainage tube, a vena cava filter, a biopsy needle.