Scanning and needle placement in plane and out of plane

(A) For an in-plane needle approach, the needle is inserted at the side of the ultrasound transducer, parallel to its long axis. The needle transversus the plane of ultrasound, and the needle shaft is visible as a white line.
(B) For an out-of-plane approach, the needle is inserted perpendicular to the long axis of the ultrasound transducer. With the out-of-plane approach, the needle shaft is visualized in cross section and appears as a white dot.