Could ultrasound detect and destroy astronauts' kidney stones?

| | Health Imaging | Screening

The movie “Alien,” a 1979 science-fiction classic, featured the ominous tagline, “In space, no one can hear your scream.”

But when it comes to manned missions to mars, researchers are looking to use ultrasound to keep astronauts from howling in pain due to kidney stones.

A story from GeekWire.com looks at a research team, with help from a grant from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (a NASA-funded group), that is developing a handheld ultrasound device that can detect and pulverize kidney stones—without surgery or bulky equipment.

Click on the link below for the full story:

NASA-funded UW researchers develop kidney-stone zapping technology

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