Published in:
Open Access
01-11-2010 | Brief Report
The heat-pipe resembling action of boiling bubbles in endovenous laser ablation
Authors:
Cees W. M. van der Geld, Renate R. van den Bos, Peter W. M. van Ruijven, Tamar Nijsten, H. A. Martino Neumann, Martin J. C. van Gemert
Published in:
Lasers in Medical Science
|
Issue 6/2010
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Abstract
Endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) produces boiling bubbles emerging from pores within the hot fiber tip and traveling over a distal length of about 20 mm before condensing. This evaporation-condensation mechanism makes the vein act like a heat pipe, where very efficient heat transport maintains a constant temperature, the saturation temperature of 100°C, over the volume where these non-condensing bubbles exist. During EVLA the above-mentioned observations indicate that a venous cylindrical volume with a length of about 20 mm is kept at 100°C. Pullback velocities of a few mm/s then cause at least the upper part of the treated vein wall to remain close to 100°C for a time sufficient to cause irreversible injury. In conclusion, we propose that the mechanism of action of boiling bubbles during EVLA is an efficient heat-pipe resembling way of heating of the vein wall.