Prospective Evaluation of Ureteral Wall Thickness as a Means to Predict Spontaneous Stone Passage: Is It Beneficial?

Ureteral wall thickness (UWT) was proposed as a potential predictor for spontaneous stone passage (SSP). In earlier studies, the effect could not be isolated from stone size. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether UWT, alone or combined with stone size, could enhance SSP predictability.

Preoperative Immersive Virtual Reality Applied to Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study of Surgical Planning and Clinical Outcomes.

Purpose: Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the procedure of choice for the management of complex or large renal stones. A major challenge for the surgeon, however, is the need to assimilate the nearly 2000 static images from a CT scan into a functional mental image to enable surgical planning. Accordingly, we investigated the potential of immersive virtual reality (iVR) to enhance surgical planning and its impact on the outcomes among patients undergoing PCNL.

Clinical determination of the natural distensibility of the human ureter: initial study.

Objectives: To define the natural distensibility of the human ureter and evaluate the impact of other possibly favourable factors on ureteric distensibility.

Patients And Methods: A total of 101 patients undergoing ureteroscopic stone removal or percutaneous nephrolithotomy underwent ureteric sizing using sequential passage of 37-cm urethral dilators in 2-F increments while attached to a unique force sensor. Insertion forces were limited to 6 N.

How bulk liquid viscosity shapes capillary suspensions.

Hypothesis: Capillary suspensions offer a new approach to generate novel materials. They are ternary liquid-liquid-solid systems characterized by particles connected by liquid bridges of one fluid suspended in a second immiscible bulk fluid. The viscosity of the bulk liquid can be modulated to customize the structure and rheological properties of capillary suspensions.