Boston Scientific launches new device allowing 1 surgeon to easily perform kidney stone removals

Boston Scientific launched a new kidney stone retrieval device that allows a single urologist to operate both a ureteroscope and a basket simultaneously during the procedure, performed via flexible ureteroscopy.

Previously, urologists have relied on another person to operate the basket used to collect kidney stones. Turning the two-person procedure into a single-person procedure provides the surgeon with greater control and cuts the risks of miscommunication, the medtech giant said.

The LithoVue Empower retrieval deployment device is designed to be used with Boston Scientific’s single-use digital flexible ureteroscope and a compatible nitinol retrieval basket. Now available in the U.S. and Europe, it represents one of several new devices in the works aimed at inefficiencies in kidney stone procedures.

“Ultimately, the LithoVue Empower Device introduces a novel efficiency into ureteroscopic stone surgery, as it makes it simpler for the urologist to pick up and move a stone—a historic source of frustration for this procedure,” said Brian Matlaga, the Stephens Professor of Urology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and director of stone disease at the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute.

To develop the device, Boston Scientific said it deployed research teams into operating rooms around the world to study how procedures were being conducted and improved.

The research showed that retrieving kidney stones is one of the most time-consuming steps during ureteroscopy procedures, described as “procedural bottlenecks” by David Pierce, president of the MedSurg business at Boston Scientific.