An irrigation system for noninvasively estimating intrarenal pressure during flexible ureteroscopy

Background High intrarenal pressure (IRP) during flexible ureteroscopy (FURS) may lead to severe complications. Reported methods for measuring IRP are often inconvenient to use, expensive and involve instruments that occupy the narrow ureter. Methods We proposed an irrigation system, which can noninvasively estimate IRP based on the principle of fluid mechanics. To determine the feasibility of our system, we conducted irrigation experiments on a kidney phantom and a porcine kidney. The estimated IRPs were compared with the ground truth IRPs. Results When no surgical instrument was inserted into the flexible ureteroscope's working channel, our system can estimate IRP with high accuracy. When a surgical instrument was inserted, our system can approximately estimate the level of IRP. Conclusions Our proposed irrigation system can noninvasively estimate IRP, presenting a new thought for clinical practice. In future studies, in vivo experiments are needed to further validate and improve the system.