Patent ID: 7815571

Claim:
A rigid delivery system comprising: a rigid shaft having a proximal end, a distal end, a longitudinal axis, and a passage therethrough, wherein the passage has a closed distal end with ultrasonically transparent or translucent side viewing window having a flat inner surface being asymmetrically inclined relative to the longitudinal axis therein; an ultrasound imaging insert removably disposed within the passage and having an ultrasound array having a flat surface on a side thereof which flat surface aligns with the side viewing window when the insert is placed in the passage such that the flat surface of the ultrasound array contacts the flat inner surface of the shaft after the insert is fully received in the shaft, wherein the ultrasound array has a field of view with a center line which is tilted in a distally forward direction relative to the longitudinal axis and wherein the imaging insert may be removed and reused.