Kidney Stone Management Market Trends

Kidney Stone Management Market Trends

Recent years have witnessed tremendous technological advances in ureteroscopy technique. The advent of flexible & semi-rigid ureteroscopy is one of the most significant advances that have revolutionized the treatment of intrarenal and proximal kidney stones.

• Flexible scopes are smaller in size offering an enhanced capacity to deflect as compared to rigid counterparts. This is accompanied with developed instrumentation in terms of addition of working channels, greater distal tip, active deflection and secondary deflection, and narrower shaft diameters. These advances have also expanded the use of techniques to treat other conditions such as urothelial carcinoma and ureteral strictures.
   
• The improvements in image quality due to use of high-definition medical camera and medical digital imaging systems has further led to better visualization and more accurate treatment. The most widely used laser lithotripters for stone fragmentation have also experienced remarkable advances such as smaller and more sophisticated equipment with high energy lasers.
   
• Other advancements in the field include introduction of improved accessories such as access sheaths and guidewires. Guidewires play an important role of navigating through an impacted calculus and protecting renal pelvis during ureteroscopy. These guidewires are now introduced in the form of hybrid guidewires that offer both flexibility of a hydrophilic wire at the tip and a stiff body to maintain rigidity.