The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Lithotripsy is a common method for fragmenting stones, or calculi, in the urinary tract, kidneys, and/or bladder. Lithotripsy, however, can leave stone fragments, which act as nucleation sites for future stone formation, for example, in the lower pole of a kidney. These fragments remain in the patient after the procedure mostly because of the difficulty in capturing very small fragments of dust employing conventional removal devices such as, for example, stone baskets.
Typical corrective actions may include one or more of the following: monitoring for future stone formation, performing additional ureteroscopic procedures, or percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Among the literature that can pertain to this technology include the following patent documents and published patent applications: EP 2355717, US 20090136594, JP 2006314811, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,883,516, and 8,753,351, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device that can be employed with lithotripsy that removes small fragments. It would be desirable to have mechanisms which attract, retain, and contain stone fragments to reliably remove small stone fragments and debris.