Patent ID: 8534293

Claim:
A needle apparatus for aligning a needle with a port of an implantable infusion device, the needle apparatus comprising: a needle anchoring portion configured to fix the needle apparatus a distance from a distal end of the needle; a port locating portion fixable relative to the needle anchoring portion, the port locating portion comprising a port location signal receiver for receiving a signal from the implantable infusion device regarding a location of the port of the implantable infusion device; and a processor operably coupled to the port location signal receiver, wherein the processor is configured to determine an orientation of the needle relative to the port based on (i) the signal from the implantable infusion device received by the port location signal receiver, (ii) a distance from an axial center of the needle to the port locating portion, and (iii) a distance along a length of the needle from the distal end of the needle to the port locating portion.