This is "burst wave lithotripsy," compared to the somewhat-similar existing "shock wave lithotripsy." The new iteration apparently works more quickly and causes less pain, so can be performed while the patient is awake rather than requiring general anesthesia, which would make it practical to do it in, say, an ER or regular doctor's office. See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10117400/#sec2t... for a comparison of the mechanisms.
> Ureteroscopy is another minimally invasive way to treat stones but often requires a temporary stent, which can be quite uncomfortable.
"The ways we have to currently treat stones have some downsides," he said. "Most involve anesthesia."
In contrast to the shock waves used in ESWL, the BWL procedure uses "short harmonic bursts" of ultrasound energy, potentially enabling the stones to be broken up in a shorter procedure without the need for sedation or anesthesia. Pre-clinical studies supported the effectiveness of BWL in breaking experimental stones of varying size and composition, the study noted.
Having had a Ureteroscopy procedure, I can say it sure as hell doesn’t feel minimally invasive. It (well, post-op until they remove the stint) was almost as unpleasant as the kidney stone.
I agree. the stint was awful and I wasn't able to pass most of the stone fragments until the stint was removed. the strange thing is that my dad had a similarly sized stone about a year after me and had the same procedure. his doctor did not place a stint and he passed all the stone fragments without issue.