Patent ID: 8603015

Claim:
A method of monitoring heat damage to a volume of tissue during a heat ablation procedure, the method comprising: employing an imaging device to obtain real-time images of a volume of tissue in an area undergoing said heat ablation procedure at an imaging rate; employing a processor to carry out the steps of: for each pixel in each of said real time images, extracting at least one parameter indicative of a biological response to heat in a portion of said tissue imaged in said pixel, said biological response comprising a decrement in blood circulation viability; and for each said pixel in each of said real time images, using an electronic calculation functionality, algorithmically determining based on said at least one parameter whether damage-onset has occurred in said portion of said tissue imaged in said pixel following exposure to heat in said heat ablation procedure; and displaying a differentiation image corresponding to each of said real-time images, such that in said differentiation image, pixels corresponding to tissue damaged by said heat ablation procedure appear different from pixels corresponding to viable tissue.