Lithotripsy

Shock Wave Lithotripsy (SWL) is a non-invasive medical technique for treating kidney stones. Shock waves generated outside the body are focused onto the kidney stones resulting in fragmentation into pieces small enough to be passed naturally. The goal of the research is to understand the process by which the shock waves fragment the stones and to understand the mechanisms by which shock waves can damage the surrounding soft tissue. This work is carried out in collaboration with colleagues at Indiana University Medical School, University of Washington at Seattle, Caltech, University of Illinois and the BU Medical School. This work is primarily funded by the National Institutes of Health and has also been supported by the Whitaker Foundation.

Faculty: R.O. Cleveland
Recent Students: P Chitnis (PhD 2006), H. Luo (PhD), J. Kracht (PhD)