Thermal profiles of blood vessels heated by a laser.

Thermal profiles of ectatic capillaries, modelled on those found in port wine stain birthmarks, are calculated by a method of finite differences. Yellow 578nm light is assumed to illuminate these vessels. The coagulation of endothelial cells is assumed to occur when the cells are heated to at least 70 degrees C. We model this by asking that a point 6 microns above the top of the vessel lumen attains a temperature of 70 degrees C. We constrain the parameters to prevent heating of blood above 100 degrees C, so as to avoid vapourisation. The treatment parameters of dose and illumination time are varied until they produce thermal profiles that show the model's coagulation conditions. being treated and are rather longer than the thermal relaxation time of the vessel and also much longer than the pulses of pulsed dye lasers.