William P. Mulvaney was the first person who attempted to disintegrate stones through “ultrasonic vibrations”, in 1953. After overcoming specific technical problems, ultrasonic lithotripsy was successfully used to crush smaller stones and for the percutaneous disintegration of kidney stones with the nephroscope.

“Aachen” model ultrasound lithotriptor. Created by Karl Storz, Tuttlingen. From the collection of the German Society of Urology (DGU)