Abstract: Objective This study was conducted to investigate ultrasonography visibility of a newly knitted catheter. Methods Tube wall structure, reflected acoustic signal intensity and ultrasonography visibility in liquid and living animal liver tissue between conventional plastic catheter (n=10) and newly knitted catheter (n=10) were compared by through electron microscopy, hydrophone acoustic signal detection, flume catheter ring experiment and live pig liver implantation. Results Under electron microscope, interlaced polymer fibers were observed in the wall of the newly knitted tube, whose acoustic impedance values were different from those of the tube body, and microbubbles were also observed around the intersections of fibers; hydrophone detection experiments showed that the fundamental and second harmonic signals received by the newly knitted catheter were more evenly distributed and less angle dependent; in the catheter ring experiment, complete display rate was (91.9±1.2)%, echo loss rate was(4.0±0.7)%) and multiple reflection artifact display rate was(4.3±0.9)%, all much superior to conventional plastic catheter (P<0.01); in live pig liver in vivo, the echo intensity, wall continuity and tip development of the newly knitted catheter were much better than those of conventional plastic catheter. Conclusion The newly knitted catheter has stronger ultrasound visibility, which might be validated in clinical application.

Key words: Ultrasound visibility, Ultrasound intervention, Knitted catheter, Acoustic performance, In vivo