Busting Kidneystones With ‘Ultrasonic’ Bursts? Could Happen Soon

Sometime soon, the same type of waves used in ultrasounds could be used to bust up kidney stones? It's closer than you think!

UW Researchers say ultrasonic waves showing the ability to break up kidney stones

According to information released by the University of Washington School of Medicine on Friday (March 25th):

"Using short, focused ultrasound bursts, UW Medicine urologists were able to fragment the stones in 10-minute procedures on anesthetized patients. Eventually, urologists could use this procedure on conscious patients in a clinic visit, said Dr. Mathew Sorensen, a study co-author, and a UW Medicine urologist."

The results are from a small study, of course, they say more research is needed. But these physicians and researchers say in the future, it could lead to patients having painful stones reduced or destroyed while being conscious during an outpatient clinic visit.

UW says kidney stones affect 1 in 10 Americans and annually cost upwards of $10 billion dollars to treat. Not to mention their painful 'passing'.

  What are ultrasonic waves?

Basically, they're the same kind of wave used in ultrasound machines, which help detect conditions or objects inside a person's body; they include, of course, those ultrasounds during pregnancy.

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An example of these very high-pitched waves would be sound only a dog can hear. That's an example of an ultrasonic wave.  The ones used to bust the kidney stones would be different concentrations designed to 'smash' an object rather than detect it (like a baby inside a mother).

Researchers say this would be a game-changer for those who suffer from these stones.
Along these lines, speaking of 'smashing...' (video-Youtube Top Fives)