Needle holder

Being specialized forceps, the components of a typical needle holder are the jaws (often reinforced with tungsten carbide inserts), the hinged joint and the handles (typically with finger rings at the end).

To maintain a firm grip on the needle, the jaws are often textured and short compared to the handles (increasing the mechanical advantage using the principle of a lever).

Most needle holders are designed to be gripped with the fingers and palm like scissors.

However, some are designed for a tweezers-like grip to allow finer, more precise movements around delicate structures or narrow spaces.

An example of such is the Castroviejo needle holder (named after Spanish American eye surgeon Ramón Castroviejo), which is commonly used in eye surgery, microsurgery and dental surgery.