Evaluation of endourological tools to improve the diagnosis and therapy of ureteral tumors – from model development to clinical application

Abstract

Adequate diagnosis of upper urinary tract (UUT) tumors is essential for successful local treatment. Organsparing approaches are technically difficult and require consistent further development. Appropriate models for investigating new diagnostic and therapeutic methods are not yet available. This study demonstrates the incorporation of a fresh sample model into five different test levels (I-V) for improving the diagnosis and therapy of ureteral tumors. In these test levels, new diagnostic and ablation techniques are evaluated for feasibility, application safety, efficacy and accuracy. An assessment of their suitability for broad preclinical and clinical application also took economic aspects into account.

Keywords

• preclinical model
• intraureteral ultrasound
• intraureteral laser therapy
• fresh sample model
• endourology