LithoVue™: A new single-use digital flexible ureteroscope

Butticè, Salvatore; Şener, Tarık Emre; Netsch, Christopher; Emiliani, Esteban; Pappalardo, Rosa; Magno, Carlo

doi:10.5173/ceju.2016.872

Cited by 16 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes cost more to purchase, repair, service, clean, and sterilize. By contrast, single-use flexible ureteroscopes have no maintenance-related costs other than purchase and storage costs [ 20 ]. Second, they have less risk of contamination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, they have less risk of contamination. Maintenance of reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes inevitably requires the use of high-level disinfection methods because, if not properly sterilized, they can transmit infections [ 20 ]. Since LithoVue is a single-use flexible ureteroscope that does not have this problem, it has an advantage in terms of the risk of possible contamination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting Urinary Stone Composition in Single-Use Flexible Ureteroscopic Images with a Convolutional Neural Network

Oh,

Jun,

Choi

et al. 2023

Medicina

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Background and Objectives: Analysis of urine stone composition is one of the most important factors in urolithiasis treatment. This study investigated whether a convolutional neural network (CNN) can show decent results in predicting urinary stone composition even in single-use flexible ureterorenoscopic (fURS) images with relatively low resolution. Materials and Methods: This study retrospectively used surgical images from fURS lithotripsy performed by a single surgeon between January 2018 and December 2021. The ureterorenoscope was a single-use flexible ureteroscope (LithoVue, Boston Scientific). Among the images taken during surgery, a single image satisfying the inclusion and exclusion criteria was selected for each stone. Cases were divided into two groups according to whether they contained any calcium oxalate (the Calcium group) or none (the Non-calcium group). From 506 total cases, 207 stone surface images were finally included in the study. In the CNN model, the transfer learning method using Resnet-18 as a pre-trained model was used, and only endoscopic digital images and stone classification data were input to achieve minimally supervised learning. Results: There were 175 cases in the Calcium group and 32 in the Non-calcium group. After training and validation, the model was tested using the test set, and the total accuracy was 81.8%. Recall and precision of the test results were 88.2% and 88.2% in the Calcium group and 60.0% and 60.0% in the Non-calcium group, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the model, which represents its classification performance, was 0.82. Conclusions: Single-use flexible ureteroscopes have financial benefits but low vision quality compared with reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes. As far as we know, this is the first artificial intelligence study using single-use fURS images. It is meaningful that the CNN performed well even under these difficult conditions because these results can further expand the possibilities of its use.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Urinary Stone Composition in Single-Use Flexible Ureteroscopic Images with a Convolutional Neural Network

Oh,

Jun,

Choi

et al. 2023

Medicina

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“…Single use flexible ureteroscopy (su-fURS) has emerged as an alternative to traditional reusable flexible ureteroscopy (r-fURS). Since the introduction of the LithoVue single use ureteroscope in 2016 ( 3 ), su-fURS has been marketed as a cost-effective alternative that eliminates many of the challenges presented by r-fURS. Reusable scopes are expensive devices that require inter-procedural disinfection ( 4 ), have durability issues after multiple uses ( 5 ), and require repair at variable time points ( 6 – 8 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single-use flexible ureteroscopes: practice patterns, attitudes, and preferences for next-generation concepts

Salka,

Bahaee,

DiBianco

et al. 2024

Front. Surg.

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BackgroundSingle use flexible ureteroscopes (su-fURS) have emerged as an alternative to reusable flexible ureteroscopes (r-fURS) for the management of upper urinary tract calculi. However, little is known about urologist usage and attitudes about this technology. Through a worldwide survey of endourologists, we assessed practice patterns and preferences for su-fURS.MethodsAn online questionnaire was sent to Endourology Society members in January 2021. The survey explored current su-fURS practice patterns, reasons for/against adoption, and preferences for next generation models including developments in imaging, intra-renal pressure, heat generation, and suction. Responses were collected through QualtricsXM over a 1-month period from surgeons in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The study was conducted according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES).Results208 (13.9%) members responded to the survey. Most respondents (53.8%) performed >100 ureteroscopies per year. 77.9% of all respondents used su-fURS for less than half of all procedures while only 2.4% used su-fURS for every procedure. 26.0% had never used a su-fURS. Overall, usage was not influenced by a surgeon's geographic region, practice environment, or years of experience. Top reasons for not adopting su-fURS were cost (59.1%) and environmental impact (12.5%). The most desired improvements in design were smaller outer shaft size (19.4%), improved optics and vision (15.9%), and wireless connectivity (13.6%). For next generation concepts, the functions most commonly described as essential or important by respondents was the ability to suction fragments (94.3%) while the function most commonly noted as not important or unnecessary was incorporation of a temperature sensor (40.4%).Conclusionssu-fURS are not commonly used, even among urologists who perform a high number of fURS. The primary concern for adoption is cost and environmental impact. Suction capability was considered the most important future development.

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