Ultrasound to Facilitate Stone Passage

Novel ultrasound technologies to facilitate passage of stones.This includes Burst Wave Lithotripsy (BWL), a technology to noninvasively fragment urinary calculi within the kidney and ureter, and ultrasonic propulsion, a technology to non-invasively reposition stones within the kidney and ureter. BWL uses short multi-cycle bursts of low amplitude ultrasound to induce stone fracture. This is in contrast to traditional extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), which employs a brief single compression/tensile cycle of high amplitude (shock) waves to achieve stone fracture. Ultrasonic propulsion uses long multi-cycle bursts of low amplitude ultrasound to move stones within the collecting system.