Ultrasound treatment of varicose veins

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the non-invasive treatment of varicose veins. The vibrational energy in acoustic waves emanating from one or more source of ultrasonic energy is focused beneath the skin to cause localized heating and tissue disruption and/or destruction in and around the varicosed segment of the vein, particularly the venous endothelium. The localized tissue destruction is followed by localized fibrosis in and around the dilated portion of the varicosed vessel. The ultrasound-induced fibrosis includes thickening and loss of elasticity of the vascular wall. If a sufficiently high dosage of ultrasound energy is delivered to the vein, the varicosed portion of the vessel will be obliterated, providing a therapeutic result similar to that obtained by injection sclerotherapy or vein stripping. Alternatively, focused ultrasound may be used to induce fibrosis in the tissue overlying the varicosed vessel thereby providing a relatively inelastic barrier which resists unsightly deformation of the skin overlying the varicose vein due to venous dilation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.