What are shock waves?

Abstract

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) has become the primary, noninvasive treatment modality for patients with stones in the kidney or ureter. Given this, it is essentially mandatory for all urologists to have basic knowledge of shock waves so that they may perform safer and more efficient SWL treatments. Unfortunately, most of the literature on shock wave physics is highly specialized. With this in mind, the aim of this chapter is to provide an easy to follow description of what lithotripter shock waves are. This chapter may also serve as a guide for physicians working on non-urological shock wave lithotripsy or other clinical and experimental applications of shock waves to medicine. The physics behind shock wave lithotripsy is quite a large subject, so a special effort has been made here to focus the discussion on an understanding of what shock waves are. © 2011 Springer-Verlag London Limited.