The LithoVue Empower Device was developed in direct response to a need to improve procedural bottlenecks during kidney stone removal procedures.

Marlborough: Boston Scientific Corporation has recently announced the global launch of the LithoVue Empower™ Retrieval Deployment Device, designed to be used with the LithoVue™ Single-Use Digital Flexible Ureteroscope and compatible nitinol retrieval basket to enable urologists to operate a ureteroscope and basket simultaneously when retrieving kidney stones via flexible ureteroscopy (URS). The LithoVue Empower Device is one of several new devices Boston Scientific is planning that addresses unmet needs and inefficiencies during stone procedures through innovation. retervial

Until now, urologists have traditionally relied on another person during kidney stone retrieval to operate the basket used to collect kidney stones. Turning a two-person stone basketing procedure into a single-person procedure provides greater control for the surgeon, decreasing the risk of miscommunication during stone basketing without compromising time.¹

“The LithoVue Empower Device is a unique tool that can improve ureteroscopic stone treatment as it puts the process of stone manipulation entirely into the hands of the surgeon,” said Dr. Brian Matlaga, the Stephens Professor of Urology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and director of stone disease, James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute and presenting author of the data. “Ultimately, the LithoVue Empower Device introduces a novel efficiency into ureteroscopic stone surgery, as it makes it simpler for the urologist to pick up and move a stone – a historic source of frustration for this procedure."

Data presented in a poster today by Dr. Kevin Koo, fellow at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, showed the LithoVue Empower Device permitted a single surgeon to perform flexible ureteroscopy with stone manipulation and retrieval, using less muscular workload than a single-surgeon ureteroscopy (i.e., where a single surgeon has to operate both the ureteroscope and retrieval tool) and similar workload to two-surgeon ureteroscopy. Task completion time was also improved with LithoVue Empower over the single-surgeon model and similar to the two-surgeon model.

Using an observational research method called ethnography, Boston Scientific deployed research teams into operating rooms (ORs) around the world to study how flexible ureteroscopy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) procedures are being conducted and how they can be improved. A powerful insight gained from this research is that, with stone retrieval specifically, increasing surgeon control and reducing the effort required to coordinate people, tools and movements is important to urologic surgeons.

The research showed that retrieving kidney stones is one of the most time-consuming steps during ureteroscopy procedures, making this an opportune area to improve physician control, address communication/coordination challenges and identify time savings.

“The LithoVue Empower Device was developed in direct response to a need to improve procedural bottlenecks during kidney stone removal procedures,” said David Pierce, executive vice president and president, MedSurg, Boston Scientific. “We are committed to identifying and addressing unmet needs to enable healthcare providers to advance patient outcomes, reduce procedural costs, enhance the quality of care and evolve the treatment of urologic and pelvic conditions."