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mediNiK (hydrogel for the removal of kidney stones)

Product
Developers: Purenum
Date of the premiere of the system: 06/04/2022
Branches: Pharmaceuticals, medicine, healthcare

Main article: Kidney stones

2022: Start of technology application

In early April 2022 the German , the company, Purenum created on the basis of the Institute of Production Technologies and Advanced Materials, Fraunhofer introduced a two-component hydrogel mediNiK. The technology is able to remove even the smallest pieces of stones from the resulting fragments in the kidneys.

At the beginning of 2022, with a procedure known as laser lithotripsy, a long thin endoscopic tube is introduced into the urethra to the place where the renal stone is located. Guided by a fiber optic camera inside this tube, the surgeon then uses an embedded laser to crush the stone into multiple pieces. Larger ones can be removed manually with a tiny retractable tool, and small ones are usually simply left in place, hoping they will come out in patients with urine. Unfortunately, as practice has shown, their passage can be painful, and there is a possibility that they may become even larger before they can be withdrawn.

Start of application of mediNiK technology

After the stone was broken in the patient with a laser and large fragments were removed in the usual way, the doctor endoscopically introduces a patented blue liquid - a hydrogel that flows around the remaining small fragments. A yellow catalyst liquid is then added which causes the blue liquid to form into a continuous piece of elastic gel enclosing all the fragments. After the first two stages, the hydrogel can be endoscopically captured and pulled out of the body through the urethra. In the laboratory, you can subsequently dissolve the gel by releasing fragments of stone for subsequent analyses. This will be followed by the completion of clinical trials, which are expected to be completed at the end of April 2022, the hydrogel will be presented on the German market in the second quarter of 2022 under the trade name mediNiK.[1]

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