Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has become a commonly used noninvasive therapy for crushing kidney stone. The therapy, however, may lead to injury. The proposed research is to gain new fundamental knowledge about the focusing of shock waves and their interaction with kidney stones. Pressure transducers (based on PVDF piezoelectric material and differential interferometry) will be developed for characterizing the developed pressures; the transducers also have the potential of being used as exposure meters in a clinical environment. If successful, the research will result in new technology that will reduce the risk associated with lithotripsy.
