| CPC A61B 18/1492 (2013.01) [A61B 2018/00029 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00267 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00375 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00577 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00702 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00791 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00982 (2013.01); A61B 2018/00994 (2013.01)] | 7 Claims | 

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               1. A method for ablating an ostium of a blood vessel of a subject that extends from a chamber of a heart of the subject, the method comprising: 
            positioning an ultrasound transducer at the blood vessel ostium that extends from the chamber of the heart; 
                rotating the transducer about its axis and scanning tissue of the blood vessel ostium; 
                recording one or more baseline returned signals from the tissue and creating a baseline image of the blood vessel ostium based on at least one of the returned signals; 
                ablating tissue of the blood vessel ostium in consecutive segments by rotating the transducer segmentally until full rotation is completed; 
                recording the returned signals of the ablated segments in real-time with respect to the ablation of the ablated segments, and creating a real-time image based on the one or more returned signals; 
                comparing the real-time returned signals or the real-time image to the baseline returned signals image; 
                identifying changes in the real-time returned signals or real-time image with respect to the baseline returned signals or baseline image that represent changes in the tissue that correspond to ablation lesion formation; and 
                terminating ablation after the identified changes indicate an achieved predetermined level of ablation lesion formation. 
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