Systems and methods for visualizing fluid enhanced ablation therapy

A method for ablating tissue, comprising:

• inserting an elongate body into a solid tissue volume;
• delivering a fluid including a contrast agent into the solid tissue volume to deliver a therapeutic dose of thermal energy such that a lesion is formed, wherein the fluid is heated to a therapeutic temperature prior to being delivered into the tissue volume;
• imaging the solid tissue volume such that an image is displayed showing the contrast agent within the solid tissue volume;
• and
• determining a size of the lesion based on a size of an area defined by the image of the contrast agent within the solid tissue volume.

A method for ablating tissue, comprising:

• inserting an elongate body into a target volume of tissue having a predetermined size;
• delivering a fluid including a contrast agent into the target volume of tissue, wherein the fluid is heated to a therapeutic temperature prior to being delivered into the target volume of tissue, and simultaneously delivering energy into the target volume of tissue from an ablation element disposed on the elongate body;
• determining a size of a portion of the target volume of tissue that contains the contrast agent using a medical imaging technology;
• and
• stopping delivery of the fluid and the energy into the target volume of tissue when the size of the portion of the target volume of tissue that contains the contrast agent is greater than or equal to the predetermined size of the target volume of tissue.