POS-459 EXAMINING THE EFFECT OF CALCULI SHAPE AND DIMENSION ON URETER OUTFLOW RATES USING AN ARTIFICIAL 3D PRINTED KIDNEY

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Kidney stone disease is a urological disorder that affects about 12% of the world population. A deeper understanding of the underlying etiologies and effects which this condition generates, such as alterations in renal hemodynamics, is essential for developing models to study this disorder. Several experimental approaches have been employed, and recent developments in 3D printing offer an exciting opportunity to mimic impediments to urine flow characteristics caused by calculi. Here we present one such simplified model. A 3D artificial renal model was developed using SolidWorks 2019 software ( to provide the template (Figure 1a) for the bioprinted scaffolds (Figure 1b). Spherical and elliptical kidney stones, ranging from 0 to 6 mm, mimic calculi embedded in the artificial ureter designed with flexible plastic tubing (Figure 1C). A mechanical circulation pump was then used to induce urine flow (Figure 1D). Flow velocities were obtained using different geometries of 3D printed kidney stones. Flow magnitude and characteristics were compared to understand the effect of having different geometries on the distribution of urinary flow (Figure 1E). The minimum flow velocities for spherical and elliptical stones were 0 and 34.1 cm/sec for 5 and 4 mm stone sizes, respectively. Surprisingly, elliptical kidney stones showed an increase in the flow velocity at the maximum elliptical stone size of 6 mm (54.39 cm/sec) due to the nature of its geometry. For the case of the spherical shape, it converged to (0 cm/sec). Figure 1. The 3D artificial renal model outlining: SolidWorks 2019 organ template (a); (b) the bioprinter model; (c) spherical and elliptical artificial kidney stones embedded in the ureter; (d) mechanical circulation pump was then used to induce urine flow; and an outline of the variations in volumetric floe rate with calculi size. The results from this study provide insight on ways to create simplified artificial organ models that simulate hemodynamic observed in Kidney stone disease and can be used to develop more sophisticated reverse-engineered artificial 3D-printed kidney models.