Stress-generated potential in renal calculi and lithotripsy

The renal calculi in the kidney cause discomfort to the patient, and should be removed in time. These days, these stones are removed by non-invasive techniques like extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. The actual mechanisms of disintegration are, however, not fully known, though cavitation is an accepted phenomenon. As the renal calculi are piezo-electric in nature, a voltage potential is found to occur in these stones, which is studied here as one of the new phenomena of the disintegration.