If you've ever had a kidney stone, you know the pain can be unbearable. But a brand-new treatment being developed at the University of Washington (UW) may soon make that pain a thing of the past—and it’s already being called a game-changer.
Even more impressive? This technology is so promising that NASA is backing it to help astronauts travel to Mars.
No Surgery. No Anesthesia. No Pain?
The new procedure is called burst wave lithotripsy, and it's currently in clinical trials at UW Medicine. Here's how it works:
Doctors use an ultrasound wand to send soundwaves into the body.
These soundwaves break apart the kidney stone.
Then, using ultrasonic propulsion, they gently move the broken fragments out of the kidney.
The entire process is quick, done while the patient is awake, and doesn’t require surgery or anesthesia. In some cases, patients can get relief in as little as 10 minutes.
“This has the potential to be game changing,” said Dr. Kennedy Hall, an emergency medicine physician at Harborview Medical Center.
Treating Kidney Stones Before They Become a Problem
Traditionally, patients wait until a kidney stone causes severe pain before seeking help. But Dr. Jonathan Harper, another UW Medicine doctor involved in the research, says this new approach flips that model on its head.
“You could come into a clinic and have a stone treated before it becomes a major problem,” Harper explained. That kind of early intervention could prevent countless ER visits and surgeries.
A Real-Life Success Story
Seattle resident Mark Mackenzie was part of the clinical trial. Just days before he was scheduled for surgery, he got the chance to try the new treatment.
“Nothing else in your life matters when you're experiencing kidney stone pain,” Mackenzie said. “This treatment saved me from that ordeal. It was almost like a miracle.”
Changing How ERs Handle Kidney Stones
Kidney stones send over a million people to emergency rooms in the U.S. every year. With this new technology, emergency rooms could treat patients on the spot.
“This could allow us to treat stones immediately instead of just managing pain and sending patients home to wait,” said Dr. Hall.
Taking the Technology to Space
Here’s the wild part: NASA has been funding this research for over a decade. That’s because astronauts are at higher risk of developing kidney stones during space missions, and obviously, there’s no emergency room on Mars.
“They could use this technology in space to treat a stone and continue with their mission—without having to return to Earth,” said Dr. Harper.
What’s Next?
Right now, the technology is only available through clinical trials, but UW Medicine says it could be rolled out to regular doctor’s offices within the next year.
If that happens, this could completely change how kidney stones are treated—not just here on Earth, but in space too.
Source:
https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/space/human-research-program/computational-mo…
https://newsroom.uw.edu/news-releases/ultrasound-promises-relief-those-…
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