Ralph Huber

Biography

• Born on December 27, 1889 in Kansas City, Missouri
• 1910s – Dental training at the University of Oregon Dental School (North Pacific College of Oregon), graduating in 1919
• 1920 – Established dental practice in Seattle, Washington; practised dentistry there for over 30 years.
• 1930s – Active as a dentist-inventor, developing hypodermic needles and medical devices aimed at reducing pain, tissue trauma, and injection complications. Also pursued non-medical inventions including optical and aviation-related devices.
• 1943 – During World War II, made several inventions available to the US Army, including early versions of a non-coring hypodermic needle later known as the Huber point.
• 1946 – Granted US patent US2409979A for a hypodermic needle with a curved wall and side orifice, explicitly designed to reduce pain, eliminate plug cutting, and permit reliable injection and withdrawal of fluids.
• 1945–1947 – The Huber-point needle design was adopted and adapted by Edward Boyce Tuohy (1908–1959) for placement of spinal and epidural catheters, becoming widely known as the “Tuohy needle”.
• Early 1950s – Continued refining needle designs; later patents addressed improvements in durability, manufacture, and injection flow.
• 1953 – Final hypodermic needle design patent [US2748769A]
• Died on August 31, 1953 in Seattle, Washington aged 63

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Medical Eponyms

Huber point epidural needle (1942)

Non coring type needle with a transversely curved wall and side hole giving it a long, sharp, curved tip. Differs from a typical needle where the opening of the needle is at the tip of the needle itself.

1943 – Huber first developed the needle and was granted a definitive patent in 1946, describing its ability to avoid cutting a core of tissue (“plug cutting”) and to permit both injection and aspiration without obstruction. Despite the significance of the design, Huber did not publish clinical papers describing its use, and dissemination occurred primarily through patents, military channels, and device manufacture.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hypodermic needle embodying a construction such that only minor pain will be experienced by the patient as the needle penetrates the tissue. An additional object of the invention is that of providing a hypodermic needle in which plug cutting, with resultant danger of embolism, will, in effect, be eliminated.

Huber 1943

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Controversies

1945 – Edward Boyce Tuohy (1908–1959) adopted a needle with a Huber-type curved point and side orifice for the placement of spinal and epidural catheters, recognising that the non-coring tip reduced the risk of catheter damage and dural puncture. Tuohy published descriptions of the technique before Huber’s 1946 patent became widely known, and the needle subsequently entered anaesthetic practice under the name “Tuohy needle”.

This sequence led to longstanding misattribution.

While Tuohy was responsible for the clinical application of the Huber-point design to neuraxial catheterisation, the needle geometry itself was Huber’s invention. One plausible explanation is that Tuohy encountered Huber’s designs through US military channels during the war, as several of Huber’s inventions were offered to the armed forces. Regardless of the pathway, modern neuraxial needles with curved, non-coring tips are direct descendants of Huber’s original design.

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References

Biography

• Frölich MA, Caton D. Pioneers in epidural needle design. Anesth Analg. 2001 Jul;93(1):215-20.
• Lubisich JW. Ralph L. Huber, DMD: forgotten inventor of the ‘Tuohy’ needle. J Hist Dent. 2004 Jul;52(2):75-9
• Ralph Lee Huber [SSN 538326003]. Find a Grave

Eponymous terms

• Eldor J. Huber needle and Tuohy catheter. Reg Anesth. 1995 May-Jun;20(3):252-3
• Gow KW, Tapper D, Hickman RO. Between the lines: The 50th anniversary of long-term central venous catheters. Am J Surg. 2017 May;213(5):837-848
• Martini JA, Bacon DR, Vasdev GM. Edward Tuohy: the man, his needle, and its place in obstetric analgesia. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2002 Sep-Oct;27(5):520-3