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Kidney Stone Erosion by Micro Scale Hydrodynamic Cavitation and Consequent Kidney Stone Treatment

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to reveal the potential of micro scale hydrodynamic bubbly cavitation for the use of kidney stone treatment. Hydrodynamically generated cavitating bubbles were targeted to the surfaces of 18 kidney stone samples made of calcium oxalate, and their destructive effects were exploited in order to remove kidney stones in in vitro experiments. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution was used as the working fluid under bubbly cavitating conditions in a 0.75 cm long micro probe of 147 μm inner diameter at 9790 kPa pressure. The surface of calcium oxalate type kidney stones were exposed to bubbly cavitation at room temperature for 5 to 30 min. The eroded kidney stones were visually analyzed with a high speed CCD camera and using SEM (scanning electron microscopy) techniques. The experiments showed that at a cavitation number of 0.017, hydrodynamic bubbly cavitation device could successfully erode stones with an erosion rate of 0.31 mg/min. It was also observed that the targeted application of the erosion with micro scale hydrodynamic cavitation may even cause the fracture of the kidney stones within a short time of 30 min. The proposed treatment method has proven to be an efficient instrument for destroying kidney stones.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Sabancı University Internal Grant for Research Program under Grant IACF09-00642 and TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) Support Program for Scientific and Technological Research Projects Grant, 111M621. Devrim Gozuacik is a recipient of “EMBO” Strategical Development and Installation Grant. The authors would like to thank Prof. M. A. Gulgun (Sabanci University) and M. Tosun (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne) for their help in analysis of kidney stones. They are also thankful to Prof. Hakkı Perk from Demetevler Oncology Hospital for providing kidney stone samples. Undergraduate and graduate student support from Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering of Sabancı University and equipment utilization support from Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Applications Center (SUNUM) is also gratefully appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechatronics Engineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Orhanlı, Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey

    Osman Yavuz Perk, Muhsincan Şeşen & Ali Koşar

  2. Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, Orhanlı, Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey

    Devrim Gozuacik

Authors
  1. Osman Yavuz Perk
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  2. Muhsincan Şeşen
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  3. Devrim Gozuacik
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  4. Ali Koşar
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Correspondence to Ali Koşar.

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Associate Editor Kerry Hourigan oversaw the review of this article.

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Perk, O.Y., Şeşen, M., Gozuacik, D. et al. Kidney Stone Erosion by Micro Scale Hydrodynamic Cavitation and Consequent Kidney Stone Treatment. Ann Biomed Eng 40, 1895–1902 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0559-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-012-0559-7

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