Disintegration of Urinary Calculi by Laser Beam: Drilling Experiment in Extracted Urinary Stones

Abstract

Disintegration of urinary calculi was attempted by the use of laser beam. As a first step, drilling of extracted urinary stones was attempted using a continuous wave CO₂ laser and a pulse ruby laser. Stones were drilled easily by either laser beam. The power around 10 W of continuous CO₂ laser beam was sufficient to drill through the stone.