The Department of Urology at Galaxy clinic is a highly specialized treatment facility dealing with the full-profile treatment of diseases of the genitourinary system, with particular emphasis on neoplastic diseases. It has a modern diagnostic and treatment base as well as well-trained, educated medical and nursing staff. We provide world class urology solutions with our urology equipment through high quality, innovations and cost optimization. Urology departments around the world rely on Siemens Healthineers` urology devices of dedicated X-ray systems and lithotripters for applications like TURP, PCNL, ESWL and much more.
In urology, inferior image quality, insufficient system ergonomics, and suboptimal image management can result in uncertain decision-making, cumbersome case reparation, and even delays during an intervention. Offering superior imaging technology, free patient access, and an unhindered view of all modalities, our urology device Uroskop Omnia Max supports you in optimizing operational efficiency and patient safety.
The continuous progress in surgical lasers with fiber optics, combined with the widespread use of miniaturized endoscopic instruments able to go where a hand or scalpel could never reach, makes laser surgery the best support for the urologist and for the development of endourology. Especially holmium and thulium lasers offer advanced performance with a lower intraoperative bleeding risk and shorter hospital stays and catheterization of patients,making endoscopic procedures safer and less invasive than traditional surgical techniques and open surgery.
The field of urology has seen numerous advancements within the realm of ureterorenoscopy. A major advancement was made when flexible ureteroscopy came into being in the 1960s as it was first described by Marshall when a flexible fiber-optic pediatric cystoscope was used to access the upper urinary tract.1 Several limitations existed with this iteration though, which included the absence of a working channel and lack of active deflection to direct the scope. Through the 1980s, scope technology evolved with the ability to run irrigation fluid and an actively deflecting tip as described by Bagley et al.2 Today, modern flexible ureteroscopes typically contain a working channel, the ability to run irrigation, and bidirectional actively deflecting tips.
It was through the use of digital image sensors that digital ureteroscopy was made possible, and there are two different imaging chips that have been used in the development of these scopes: charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS). Both imagers function by converting photons into electrons.7 There are wires within the ureteroscope that carry the digital signal to the image processor, which is then converted into the image for real time viewing.8 CMOS imagers require less energy, process images faster, run at cooler temperatures, and are less expensive to produce when compared with CCD.7 In contrast, CCD imagers are a mature technology that has high sensitivity and is less affected by signal noise.7 Digital imagers were continually miniaturized until small enough to be applied to ureteroscopy when the chips were placed on the tip of the ureteroscope with the industry coining the phrase “chip on the tip” and “chip on the stick”. The image quality of digital ureteroscopes is so advanced that Humphreys et al described this as a “new world revealed” as they visualized Randall’s plaques within the renal papilla.
Because digital ureteroscopy utilizes the “chip on the tip” to collect information and relay it to the endoscopy tower, the bulky camera head required for nondigital endoscopic procedures is eliminated . In the author’s experience, the digital ureteroscopes offer improved ergonomics by being lighter and, therefore, easier to handle, something that is especially important during longer procedures where hand fatigue can become an issue. Furthermore, the reduction in scope cords from two (camera and light cord) to one helps to prevent cord entanglement and reduces clutter in the operative field. The combined cord and the elimination of the bulky camera head does result in a connection that is specific to the manufacturer. A digital ureteroscope then must be used with the respective manufacturer’s tower.
