Patent ID: 7087024

Claim:
A system for guiding a needle comprising: a medical imaging transceiver, configured to generate signals representative of an internal portion of a human body; a first needle stop having a first needle engagement surface; a slidable needle stop having a leading edge opposing said needle engagement surface so as to form a needle gap therebetween; said slidable needle stop being slidable so as to provide said needle gap with a variable gap width; said first needle stop and said slidable needle stop being configured to form an open ended slot which permits a needle disposed in said needle gap to be removed from said needle gap when said needle is pivoted; and an elongated flexible strap being elastic along a longitudinal axis, further being conformable so as to wrap around at least a portion of the medical imaging transceivers, where a shape characteristic of the medical imaging transceiver is one of a variety of shapes; WHEREBY said first needle stop and said slidable needle stop are configured to cooperate to provide needle engaging forces upon a needle when said needle is disposed in said needle gap and simultaneously configured to permit removal of said needle from said needle gap by pivoting said needle in a direction orthogonal to a needle axis, and the first needle stop and the slidable needle stop are held in place adjacent to the medical imaging transceiver by at least the elongated flexible strap.