Lithotripter systems

Abstract

Lithotripsy in its various forms has revolutionalized the treatment of kidney and ureter stones. In extracorporeal lithotrips, pulsed acoustic shock waves are generated outside the body and focused via a coupling medium to the concrement. The location of the focus is controlled by fluoroscopy of ultrasound imaging. Starting from simplified models, two methods for generating shock wave pulses are described: (a) point-like supersonic emitters; and (b) two-dimensional emitters of finite amplitude waves. The principles and performance of a spark-gap emitter with a focusing ellipsoid, an electromagnetic acoustic source with a focusing lens, and a spherical concave piezoceramic source are described and discussed. Commercial lithotripter systems and their components for coupling, imaging, patient handling, and triggering are described and their performance is discussed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>