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An interview with University of California, San Francisco associate professor Thomas Chi, M.D., is presented on how he performs percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Topics covered include his advice to urologists who look to gain more experience with the procedure, his thoughts on whether patients prefer the percutaneous approach compared to a non-invasive approach, and whether radiologists should be involved in PCNL.

The article reports that urologists are increasingly called upon to negotiate binding documents such as employment contracts, according to associate urology professor Dr. Thomas Stringer. Topics mentioned include percentage of all physicians who were shareholders in their practices in 2000, the goal of the private equity purchase, and an increase in the national gender gap for physicians from 2016 to 2017.

The article reports on the development of a project at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center which shows a novel approach for reducing the number of small retained fragments following a ureteroscopic lithotripsy. It notes that such approach is made possible by rendering stone fragments paramagnetic through exposure to iron oxide-based microparticles. The research revealed that calcium oxalate stone fragments incubated with the microparticles could be picked up with a magnet.

The article focuses on advances in robotic ureteroscopy that will help target stones and reduce ionizing radiation. Topics discussed include the Roboflex that was one of the first robots used for ureteroscopy, Auris Health, Inc.'s Monarch Platform approved for robotic bronchoscopy, skills required from urologists in using these devices and advantages of and safety concerns with these devices.

An introduction is presented to articles within the issue on management of kidney stone disease, how a patient's level of focus on pain dictates their perception of stone surgery success and recommendations for catheter management following transurethral surgery.

The article presents the results of the study led by Marshall Stoller of the University of California which unveils the output of the same stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve with the external application of pulsed electromagnetic fields using an investigational device compared with traditional electrical stimulation. The study followed a cohort of 10 healthy adults who had no neurologic conditions. The adverse actions linked with the application of the electromagnetic energy is tackled.

Kidney stone disease is the bread and butter of many urologists' practices, and the prevalence of stones is on the rise in the United States. Yet, as discussed in this [...]

San Francisco--External application of pulsed electromagnetic fields using an investigational device (TranStim Transdermal Neuromodulation System, EMKinetics, Inc., Mountain View, CA) produces the same stimulation of the posterior tibial nerve as [...]