Patent ID: 8029446

Claim:
An ultrasonic imaging system comprising: an insert for being inserted into a blood vessel; a drive shaft disposed in said insert; an ultrasonic transducer disposed in said insert; and at least one temperature sensor disposed in said insert; wherein said transducer and said at least one temperature sensor are arranged to scan the blood vessel in a direction which is perpendicular and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the blood vessel, wherein said transducer is operable to provide a tomographic image of the blood vessel, and one of said at least one temperature sensor is a thermistor and is operable to measure an intravascular temperature distribution in the blood vessel, and wherein said thermistor and said transducer are mounted at opposite sides of a single housing which is fixed at a distal portion of said drive shaft so that said thermistor is disposed in the same position as said transducer in a longitudinal direction of said insert.