This is a process to break kidney stones without surgery. Also called ESWL or Extra Corporeal Shockwave Lithotripsy. In other words shockwaves generated outside the body are focused on the stone in the kidney via a liquid medium usually water to break the stones to tiny particles which then pass out of the urinary tract with the flow of urine. Modern machines like ours do not require anaesthesia for lithotripsy.

Commonly the shockwaves are generated by spark gap, electromagnetic or piezoelectric crystals and focused by a parabolic reflector on to the stone. The energy passed on to the stones makes it expand and fragment with minimum effect on the kidney tissue.