WASHINGTON: Although kidney stones have been broken for decades thanks to lithotripsy, for the first time, a successful experiment has been performed to break stones in just 10 minutes with the help of modified ultrasound.
Low-amplitude and high-frequency ultrasound waves make it possible to steal rocks faster and with less pain than lithotripsy, and early experiments are very promising. In this way the broken stones are excreted in the urine without any problem.
Although it is a modified form of lithotripsy. We know that kidney and leaf stones have crystal (crystal) structure which is found in many types. Some people get rid of fine kidney stones on their own. However, large stones cause severe discomfort. If they get stuck in the narrow duct leading to the bladder, the patient becomes unwell with pain.
Shockwave lithotripsy (SWL) typically emits low frequency and ultrasound waves. For about an hour, sound waves are transmitted from the outside of the kidneys to the inside and the patient is kept in a coma or drowsiness. After this, the broken stones are excreted in the urinary tract.
Now Jonathan Harper, a professor at the University of Washington, and his colleagues have developed a technology based on ultrasound, but its frequency is higher and its amplitude is lower. This new technology has been dubbed Burst View Lithotherapy (BWL).
In the first phase, 19 patients were brought in who had a total of 25 kidney stones. The rocks were usually 2 to 12 millimeters in size. However, in conventional lithotripsy, 60% of the stones are broken down into smaller particles smaller than four millimeters, which can be excreted in the urine. However, there are several drawbacks to this traditional process: first, it takes a lot of time, second, the patient is anesthetized and the discomfort subsides.
Now with BWL this can be done in just ten minutes and there is no need to anesthetize the patient. The best results were obtained when tested on patients. The next step is to test it on more people.
