| CPC A61B 6/0492 (2013.01) [A61B 90/39 (2016.02); A61B 2090/3966 (2016.02)] | 19 Claims |

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1. A method for identifying a location for needle insertion into a patient, the method including:
identifying a target internal structure;
identifying, from a marking grid applied to the patient, a lateral positioning coordinate for the target internal structure;
identifying a longitudinal positioning coordinate for the target internal structure with reference to an auxiliary guideline of the marking grid, wherein:
the auxiliary guideline intersects an axis that coincides with a transverse plane that passes through the marking grid and the target internal structure,
the auxiliary guideline intersects the axis at a known angle, and
the longitudinal positioning coordinate is identified based on the lateral positioning coordinate and the known angle of the auxiliary guideline; and
determining the location for the needle insertion using the longitudinal-positioning coordinate and the lateral-positioning coordinate.
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