For Trish Archibald it started with a small bump.

"I noticed first some itching, some pain and I said I thought it was maybe a bug bite," she said.

Wrong. It was a varicose vein. Women in her family tend to get them.

"I've seen what their legs looked like, so I don't want mine to go that far," she said.

She also didn't want to go through the painful vein-stripping operation they endured.

Dr. Charles Strub of Monroe was the first in the Seattle area to pioneer the VNUS Closure System, a much less invasive procedure that uses radio frequency to heat up the vein walls.

"The goal is to close the vein at which point the human body will slowly dissolve over the next couple of months," he said.

This newest version is even faster. Instead of a single slow pullback of the catheter, it's done one segment at a time. Ultrasound helps guide the doctor.

In Trisha's case, the entire vein is closed in about two minutes.

Average time is between three and five minutes. The older method took up to 18 minutes.

"I think patients like to get out of here as quickly as possible and get back to their normal life," said Dr. Strub.

After her leg is wrapped, Trisha is out walking in the parking lot 10 minutes later.

Most patients can resume normal activities within a day, although they will have to wear compression stockings for a time.

The procedure is covered by insurance.