To assess the distribution of stone fragments (<0.25->2 mm) after in vitro dusting laser lithotripsy with varying pulse modes using canine calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) stones. Recent work demonstrates that fragments <0.25 mm are ideal for dusting, and we hypothesized advanced pulse modes might improve this outcome.

A 3D-printed bulb was used as a calyceal model containing a single COM stone. A 230-core fiber (Lumenis) was passed through a ureteroscope (LithoVue, Boston Scientific). Contact laser lithotripsy by a single operator was performed with dusting settings (0.5J x 30Hz; Moses Pulse120H) to deliver 1kJ of energy for each trial. Short pulse (SP), long pulse (LP), Moses Distance (MD) and Moses Contact (MC) modes were tested with 5 trials for each parameter. Primary outcome was mass of fragments <0.25, <0.5, <1, and <2 mm. Laser fiber tip degradation was measured using a digital caliper.

Mass of stone fragments <0.25 mm varied from 34.6%-43.0% depending on the pulse mode, with no statistically significant differences between modes. MC (98.5%) produced a greater mass of fragments <2 mm compared to LP (86.1%; P = .046) but not SP (92.0%). Significantly less fiber tip burnback occurred with MC (0.29 mm) and MD (0.28 mm), compared to SP (0.83 mm; P < .0005).

Regardless of pulse mode, greater than one-third of the mass of COM stone was reduced to fragments <0.25 mm following contact laser lithotripsy. MC produced a greater mass of fragments <2 mm compared to LP and demonstrated less fiber tip burnback compared to SP.