講座內容：Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is amedical procedure that uses shock waves (SWs) generated extracorporeally tobreak urinary stones. SWL revolutionized the surgical management for stonediseases and lithotripsy technologies have evolved considerably over the pastthree decades in many aspects but the success rate of SWL remained stalemated.As the only non-invasive treatment option it is currently used for treatingover half the patients, there is a great need to improve this technique.

The author will demonstrate how thechange of acoustic coupling from the original ideal water-bath type to “dry”coupling using ultrasound gel in modern lithotripters reduces stone breakageefficiency, and how body wall in the SW-path affects the acoustic field nearthe target. Random air pockets trapped at the coupling interface betweentherapy head and patient skin are known to significantly decrease stonebreakage. The author designed and carried outin vitroexperiments to further determine the effect of size andlocation of coupling defects. Knowledge of the acoustic field is important forunderstanding SW action in stone breakage butin vivomeasurement is very difficult. The author innovativelyadopted anex vivoapproach to bestmimic thein vivoenvironment and toensure precise acoustic measurement.

Experimental results from both the acousticcoupling and body wall tests will be presented. If time permits, the authorwould also like to present his doctoral work on Resonant UltrasoundSpectroscopy (RUS) and how he used this accurate elastic characterization techniqueto study thermoelectric materials at high temperatures.