Development of a spontaneous stone passage renal simulator using a physiological 3D renal model

Abstract

Urolithiasis is a disease in which calcium oxalate crystallizes in the urinary tract, and has a high recurrence rate. It is necessary to consider the burden on the body by surgical treatment, therefore, treatment methods that effectively promote spontaneous stone passage are required. In this study, we investigated the effects of angular velocity on spontaneous stone passage and established the parameters needed to develop a working accelerated renal pelvis and calyx simulator. According to analysis from experiments, it was confirmed that the simulator using our established parameters is able to reproduce spontaneous stone passage similar to our experiment results. By establishing a spontaneous stone passage prediction simulator, it will be possible to devise a method to effectively promote spontaneous stone passage in patients. By reducing the morbidity of urinary lithiasis that requires surgery, it is expected to reduce the burden on patients and medical sites.