New Irrigation Technology

Ureteroscopy as we know it today was introduced in the early 1980’s and since then a lot of progress has been made in the optics and in the design of the ureteroscopes. We now have rigid and flexible ureteroscopes of different sizes and flexibility that allows us to visualize all parts of the urinary tract and perform procedures which were at one time performed by open surgery.  All accessories needed, i.e. wires, baskets, ablation and fragmentation devices have also made significant advances, keeping pace with the progress.

A very significant part of Ureteroscopy, which is lagging behind, is irrigation of the ureter and the renal pelvis. To date it is still a three handed or a two hands and a foot operation, making it, bulky, cumbersome, and inefficient and lacks precision. The spectrum of Ureteroscopic procedures have also broadened and with that comes the need for extra ports and ureteral catheters and at times requires either removal or disengagement of a device from the ureteroscope to make this possible. This can be time consuming, cause delays and can inadvertently cause complications. The design and function of the current devices are limited only to irrigation and lacks versatility.

The Universal Piggyback Irrigation System (UPIS) (kosintechnologies.net) solves all the current problems in irrigation during Ureteroscopy. It can be mounted anywhere, on any type of Ureteroscope and allows the flow to be regulated by the Surgeon with the same hand holding the Ureteroscope, leaving the other hand completely free to perform fragmentation, ablation and extraction.  The flow is controlled by pressing the trumpet.  As the trumpet is pressed the flow increases and when it is pressed all the way down and allowed to “click” it is running at full flow without having to keep the finger on the trumpet. When it is pressed again, the “click” mechanism releases itself and the flow stops. The ergonomics of this device are far superior to the current devices.

There is one other feature that is built into this device and that is the needle less injection port with a check valve. This port can be used to inject contrast, pulse injection to clear debris in the ureter, aspirate debris and blood clots from the renal pelvis and also collect cytology specimen from the renal pelvis and different calayces. This is a significant improvement in the way these procedures were performed in the past, saving time, cost and avoiding complications.

UPIS, is a solution to a problem that has been overlooked for a long time, a device that is worth having in the Ureteroscopy armamentarium. The new 3rd generation (UPIS) comes complete with a port seal, a more intuitive inlet and a more robust mounting pad and strap, making it even more user friendly and cost effective.