OSCILLATING LITHOTRIPTER
First Claim
1. A method of fragmenting urinary tract stones, the method comprising:
- determining a size, determining a type, or determining both a size and type of a urinary tract stone;
selecting a magnitude of a sonic frequency for producing a sonic waveform, the magnitude of the sonic frequency being selected based on the size of the urinary tract stone;
producing the sonic waveform using a sonic driver;
producing an ultrasonic waveform having an ultrasonic frequency using an ultrasonic driver; and
transmitting the sonic waveform and the ultrasonic waveform to the urinary tract stone via a wave guide shaft.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A lithotripter is provided for fragmenting a stone inside a patient'"'"'s body. In one form, the lithotripter includes a motor having at least two modes of operation and is configured to produce first and second waveforms. A wave guide shaft is configured to transmit the first and second waveforms to the stone. In one form, at least one of the first and second waveforms is provided to the stone at a frequency that is about equal to a natural frequency of the stone. In a variation, the lithotripter may include an ultrasonic driver configured to produce an ultrasonic frequency waveform and a sonic driver configured to produce a sonic frequency waveform. The sonic driver is mechanically coupled to the ultrasonic driver. The ultrasonic driver and the sonic driver may be disposed within a driver housing. In another variation, the lithotripter may include a brushless DC motor.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method of fragmenting urinary tract stones, the method comprising:
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determining a size, determining a type, or determining both a size and type of a urinary tract stone; selecting a magnitude of a sonic frequency for producing a sonic waveform, the magnitude of the sonic frequency being selected based on the size of the urinary tract stone; producing the sonic waveform using a sonic driver; producing an ultrasonic waveform having an ultrasonic frequency using an ultrasonic driver; and transmitting the sonic waveform and the ultrasonic waveform to the urinary tract stone via a wave guide shaft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification