Professors co-publish in scientific journal

Ohio Northern University’s William Fuller and Maria Raiti, associate professors of mathematics and statistics, have recently co-published an article, “Modeling of Heat Conduction along Vein Walls in Endovenous Laser Treatment,” with Ron Bush, a vascular surgeon from Midwest Vein and Laser Center in Centerville, Ohio, in The Internet Journal of Bioengineering.

This article provides a model for how heat flows along vein walls during a laser treatment for varicose, abnormally swollen or knotted, veins. This model has helped clarify a disputed argument about the method in which the endothelium (the thin layer of cells that lines the interior surface of blood vessels) along the vein wall is destroyed as a result of the treatment.

“The traditional procedure for treating varicose veins in the legs has been to remove the veins surgically,” Fuller explained. “Since the saphenous veins are so long, such surgery has required extended recovery times in which the patient has very restricted movement. Laser ablation therapy is a much more benign process. The vein does not have to be removed physically from the leg, and the recovery times are quicker and with less discomfort for the patient. The work in the paper helps us to understand exactly what the mechanism is that is responsible for the effectiveness of the procedure.”

Published: Wed, 11/09/2011 - 3:07pm