In later devices, the shock wave source is encapsulated so that the patient no longer needs to be immersed in a water bath.
Several hundred shocks are passed through the patient at roughly one second intervals.
One of the issues we are researching is how to monitor effect that the shock wave is having on stone. Is the shock wave hitting the stone? Has the stone broken up (so that we can stop the treatment)?
In collaboration with Guys and St Thomas’ Health Trust (GSTHT), we are investigating whether the sound that can be recorded when the shock wave hits or misses the stone can tell us this information.
This is a picture of a device developed at GSTHT; it is a remote hydrophone which can be placed onto the body, and the readout on the screen tells us a lot about the effect the shock is having on the tissue.
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homepage of the Ultrasonics and Underwater Acoustics (UAUA) Centre, click 
© T G Leighton 2003