Table 1.

Features of ten tested endoscopic ultrasound fine-needle aspiration needles.

	Needle brand name (Manufacturer)	Needle gauge	Ranking of the echogenic treatment in terms of length*
1	A new prototype needle (Medi-Globe)	22	Entire needle (1)
2	EchoTip (Cook Medical)	22	5
3	EchoTip®ProCore HD (Cook Medical)	22	4
4	EZ Shot 2 (Olympus)	22	6
5	A new prototype needle (Medi-Globe)	22	Entire needle (1)
6	ClearView Conmed	22	2
7	BNX (Beacon Endoscopic)	22	3
8	Expect Slimline (Boston Scientific)	22	3
9	SonoTip Pro (Medi-Globe)	22	2
10	EchoTip Ultra (Cook Medical)	22	3

^*Needles 7, 8 and 10 have the same treatment lengths and are ranked the 3rd in terms of treatment length. HD: high definition. Needles 6 and 9 have the same treatment lengths and are ranked the 2nd. Needles 1 and 5 are coated with echogenic polymers and are ranked the 1st and in their instances the entire needles were visible.

Medi-Globe GmbH, Rosenheim, Germany; Boston Scientific, Natick, Mass, USA; Cook Medical, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Conmed, Billercia, Mass, USA; Olympus America, Center Valley, Pa, USA; Beacon Endoscopic, Newton, Mass, USA. BNX needle and new 22 G SharkCore needle are made by the Beacon Endoscopic and they have an identical needle shaft, and differ only in tip from the SharkCore.