Patent ID: 8133222

Claim:
A hollow coaxial cable apparatus for transmission of radio frequency (RF) energy for the ablation of biological tissues, comprising: a hollow coaxial electrical cable having a proximal portion and a distal portion and comprising inner and outer coaxial conductors extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion; an outer casing extending over the coaxial conductors from the proximal portion to the distal portion of the cable; an RF antenna disposed at the distal portion of the cable which transmits RF energy to a tissue region to be treated; a first array of ultrasonic transducers disposed at the distal portion of the cable which directs ultrasonic energy radially outwards from the cable over a predetermined angle to the tissue region, and which detects reflected ultrasonic signals and provides a signal output according to the reflected ultrasonic signals; first and second conductive leads extending from the proximal portion of the cable to the ultrasonic transducer, at least the first conductive lead comprising one of the coaxial conductors; and the outer casing having a distal portion extending over the RF antenna and ultrasonic transducer array which has a window of ultrasonic and microwave transparent material aligned with the transducer array, the remainder of the distal portion of the casing being of microwave and ultrasound absorbing material.