Imaging and pressure sensing apparatus and probes with a slidable sheath

[0024]The following description refers to the accompanying drawings that illustrate certain embodiments of the invention in more detail. FIG. 1 provides an overall view of a specific imaging and pressure sensing combination probe 100 according to one specific embodiment of the present invention in the specific form of a catheter for easy insertion into a lumen of an imaging patient such as a blood vessel. The probe 100 includes a probe sheath 101 with a sheath proximal end 102 and a sheath distal end 103 where a proximal end outer boundary 104 transitions to a distal end inner boundary 105. The probe sheath 101 can be made of materials with substantially little attenuation in the mechanical frequency band used for ultrasound imaging.

[0025]The sheath proximal end 102 here includes a pressure connector 109, an imaging connector 107, a proximal mating unit 141, a telescoping section 142 and a liquid purge port 143. The imaging connector or the pressure connector can be either optical conn