Ureteroscopic Doppler Ultrasonography: Mapping Renal Blood Flow from Within the Collecting System.

Herein we provide the first report regarding porcine renal forniceal, papillary, and infundibular blood flow at the urothelial level using a novel ureteroscopic Doppler transducer. Nephroureteroscopy was performed on 11 female Yorkshire pigs to map the forniceal, papillary, and infundibular blood flow. A Doppler transducer was mounted to a 3F 120 cm catheter; the probe was passed through the working channel of a flexible ureteroscope.

Laser Endoscopic X-Ray-Guided Intrarenal Tract: Comparison Among Renal Access Modalities in the Porcine Kidney.

Laser endoscopic X-ray-guided intrarenal tract (LEXIT) is a recently described holmium laser retrograde access technique for creating percutaneous access during a percutaneous nephrolithotomy. We compared bleeding, ease of access, and the time to achieve access for each of the following three modalities: LEXIT, retrograde Lawson puncture wire, and antegrade 18-gauge nephrostomy needle access in the porcine kidney. Eight pigs underwent an average of five nephrostomy accesses per kidney under simultaneous laparoscopic vision at 5 mm Hg insufflation pressure.

Ureteral Access Sheath Deployment: How Much Force Is Too Much? Initial Studies with a Novel Ureteral Access Sheath Force Sensor in the Porcine Ureter.

Ureteral injuries can occur during ureteral access sheath (UAS) deployment. The force exerted during deployment and the amount of force that results in ureteral injury is yet to be accurately quantitated. In this feasibility study, we developed and then tested a novel force-sensing device in our animal laboratory to identify the threshold force that results in a porcine ureteral injury.