The lithotrite was an early

medical device A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assur ...

, invented by

Al-Zahrawi Abū al-Qāsim Khalaf ibn al-'Abbās al-Zahrāwī al-Ansari ( ar, أبو القاسم خلف بن العباس الزهراوي;‎ 936–1013), popularly known as al-Zahrawi (), Latinisation of names, Latinised as Albucasis (from Arabic ''A ...

, an early form of which he called "Michaab". He was able to crush the stone inside the bladder without the need for a surgical incision. It was later modified by Jean Civiale, and was used to perform transurethral

lithotripsy Lithotripsy is a non-invasive procedure involving the physical destruction of hardened masses like kidney stones, bezoars or gallstones. The term is derived from the Greek words meaning "breaking (or pulverizing) stones" ( litho- + τρίψω rip ...

, the first known minimally invasive surgery, to crush stones inside the bladder without having to open the abdomen (lithotomy). To remove a

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizati ...

the instrument was inserted through the

urethra The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra c ...

and holes bored in the stone. Afterwards, it was crushed with the same instrument and resulting fragments aspirated or allowed to flow normally with urine.

References

Medical equipment Urologic procedures {{surgery-stub