Experimental Study of Low-frequency Ultrasound for Thermal and Non-thermal Varicose Vein Treatment in Mimicking Models

A new method for endovenous treatment of varicose veins using the combined mechanism of action based on low-frequency ultrasound was discussed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of both thermal and non-thermal endovenous ultrasound treatment in a varicose veinmimicking model. In this paper, an experimental setup based on the motorized pullback device with two types of the varicose vein-mimicking model was proposed. An experimental study of two ultrasound instrument pullback protocols (continuous and stepwise) was carried out to evaluate the thermal treatment and an experimental study of two sclerotherapy protocols (with and without ultrasound exposure) was carried out to evaluate non-thermal (chemical) treatment. The advantage of a continuous pullback protocol over a stepwise on the thermal shrinkage resulting from ultrasound ablation was observed. The shrinkage index with continuous pullback protocol was 4 times more. The enhancement of the chemical damage (up to 2.5 times) under ultrasound exposure was also observed.