A system and method for regional anesthesia using ultrasound to assist in locating the anesthetic needle are disclosed One or more piezoelectric crystal transducers is placed either at the tip of the needle or near the tip of the needle on a stylet which is inserted into the lumen of the needle The transducer(s) are pulsed with ultrasonic frequency, the reflected ultrasonic signals from structures are detected and converted into a digital signal and may be displayed in an oscilloscopic format to indicate anatomical structures forward to the needle and allow the medical professional to avoid errors and/or increase efficiency and accuracy An array of transducers can be pulsed in a phased array fashion to generate a 2D image, or a single transducer can be pulsed to generate a ID image