Ablation probe with fluid-based acoustic coupling for ultrasonic tissue imaging and treatment

An ablation probe for treating and imaging body tissue, the ablation probe comprising:

• an elongate probe body having a proximal section and a distal section;
• an ablation electrode tip coupled to the distal section of the elongate probe body, the ablation electrode tip configured for delivering ablation energy to body tissue;
• a plurality of acoustic openings disposed through the ablation electrode tip;
• a plurality of ultrasonic imaging sensors disposed within an interior lumen of the ablation electrode tip, the plurality of ultrasonic imaging sensors arrayed around a longitudinal axis of the ablation electrode tip to respectively face a plurality of different lateral directions with respect to the longitudinal axis;
• an acoustically transparent member disposed between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the acoustic openings;
• and
• a fluid channel interposed between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the acoustically transparent member.

An ablation probe for treating and imaging body tissue, the ablation probe comprising:

• an elongate probe body having a proximal section and a distal section;
• an ablation electrode tip coupled to the distal section of the elongate probe body, the ablation electrode tip configured for delivering ablation energy to body tissue;
• a plurality of acoustic openings disposed through the ablation electrode tip;
• a plurality of ultrasonic imaging sensors disposed within an interior lumen of the ablation electrode tip;
• an acoustically transparent member disposed between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the acoustic openings;
• an insert within the interior lumen of the ablation electrode tip, the insert comprising a cylindrically-shaped insert body including a plurality of recesses that respectively receive the plurality of ultrasonic imaging sensors;
• and
• a fluid channel interposed between the ultrasonic imaging sensors and the acoustically transparent member.