BIOMEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION FOR SHOCK-WAVE LITHOTRIPSY

EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCK-WAVE LITHOTRIPSY (ESWL) HAS BECOME THE PREFERRED METHOD OF REMOVAL FOR THE MAJORITY OF SYMPTOMATIC RENAL AND UPPER URETERAL CALCULI. RECENTLY, MEDICAL RESEARCH HAS REVEALED THAT ESWL CAN CAUSE A VARIETY OF ACUTE AND POSSIBLY CHRONIC INJURIES. THE PROPAGATION ANDFOCUSING OF SHOCK WAVES IN, AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH, TISSUE AND CALCULI IS SUFFICIENTLY COMPLEX THAT THE ASPECTS OF THE PRESSURE FIELD CONTRIBUTING TO INJURY AND TO STONE FRAGMENTATION CANNOT YET BE IDENTIFIED. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH IS TO GAIN FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROPERTIES OF CONVERGENT SHOCK WAVES IN TISSUES, AND THEIR INTERACTION WITH STONE MATERIALS. A CONCOMITANT OBJECTIVE IS TO EMPLOY THE KNOWLEDGE SO GAINED TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING INSTRUMENTATION TO BOTH DIAGNOSE AND CONTROL THE LITOTRIPSY PROCESS. THE EFFECT OF A CALCULUS ON BACK-SCATTERED AND FORWARD-SCATTERED WAVES WILL BE MEASURED AND EVALUATED IN THE TIME AND FREQUENCY DOMAINS. EFFECTS PRODUCED BY TISSUE PHANTOMS AND THE ANGULAR DISTRIBUTION OF SCATTERED WAVES WILL BE MEASURED. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT BY COMBINING KEY ELEMENTS OF THE INTERACTION PROCESS WITH INNOVATIVE ALGORITHMS, THE BASIS FOR A NEW CLASS OF DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION WILL BE DEMONSTRATED.