European Markets for Urinary Stone Removal Devices and Equipment

The urinary tract includes the bladder, kidneys, ureters, and urethra, and is involved in the formation and excretion of urine. The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs approximately the size of a fist, located in back of the abdomen on each side of the spine; their primary function is to remove excess fluid, unneeded electrolytes, and waste from the blood. This filtered liquid waste forms urine, which passes from the kidneys into the urinary bladder through two narrow tubes called ureters; during urination, urine flows out of the bladder through the urethra. The kidneys also maintain a stable balance of salts and other substances in the blood, and produce the hormones calcitriol (a form of Vitamin D that helps with calcium absorption from the diet to maintain healthy bones) and erythropoietin (which signals the bone marrow to make red blood cells), as well as the enzyme renin (which helps regulate blood pressure by activating the hormone angiotensin).

Kidney stones (or calculi) develop when certain components of urine (e.g., calcium, oxalate, and phosphate) become imbalanced. When this occurs, the urine contains more crystal-forming substances, such as calcium and uric acid, than the fluid is able to dilute, resulting in the formation of a stone, or solid mass of crystals. While there are many types of stones, the most common contain calcium in combination with phosphate and/or oxalate. Less common stones include pure uric acid stones and those that derive from urinary tract infections (known as struvite or infection stones); in certain extreme cases, an inheritable disease known as cystinuria may result in cystine kidney stones.

Kidney stones are one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract. Approximately 5% to 7% of women and 10% to 12% of men are diagnosed with a kidney stone every year. Approximately 1 million kidney stone cases are diagnosed each year in the United States, and this number is expected to increase significantly to approximately 1.6 million to 2.2 million by the year 2050 as the global climate warms. The incidence of kidney stones is believed to be increasing in industrialized countries, and is also believed to be increasing in women. People who experience 1 kidney stone have a 50% chance to develop a second stone during their lifetime.

Bladder stones occur in the bladder. Unlike kidney stones, bladder stones are less common in industrialized countries than in developing countries such as Indonesia, the Middle East, Myanmar, North Africa, and Thailand. In the Western hemisphere, bladder stones typically occur in men older than age 50. The following sections present a brief summary of the various types of treatment and prevention methods for bladder and kidney stones.