title: Mathematical modeling of radiofrequency ablation for varicose veins.
abstract: We present a three-dimensional mathematical model for the study of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with blood flow for varicose vein. The model designed to analyze temperature distribution heated by radiofrequency energy and cooled by blood flow includes a cylindrically symmetric blood vessel with a homogeneous vein wall. The simulated blood velocity conditions are U = 0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 20, and 40 mm/s. The lower the blood velocity, the higher the temperature in the vein wall and the greater the tissue damage. The region that is influenced by temperature in the case of the stagnant flow occupies approximately 28.5% of the whole geometry, while the region that is influenced by temperature in the case of continuously moving electrode against the flow direction is about 50%. The generated RF energy induces a temperature rise of the blood in the lumen and leads to an occlusion of the blood vessel. The result of the study demonstrated that higher blood velocity led to smaller thermal region and lower ablation efficiency. Since the peak temperature along the venous wall depends on the blood velocity and pullback velocity, the temperature distribution in the model influences ablation efficiency. The vein wall absorbs more energy in the low pullback velocity than in the high one.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, 1071 Anyangcheon-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul 158-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, 102 Heukseok-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul 156-755, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Kook
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Andong National University, 388 Songchun-dong, Andong 760-749, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Taewon
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4653-8810
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004566:Electrodes; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011846:Radio Waves; D012212:Rheology; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*