Design and Evaluation of Nanotechnology Approaches for Kidney Stone Management

Kidney Stone Disease is a widespread and repetitive epidemiological problem affecting the entire world, and the current methods of management are limited by the complications associated with the procedures, the high rate of recurrence, and the lack of adherence of patients to the preventive treatment. This review clearly looks at the transformative potential of nanotechnology to cover these critical gaps in the entire continuum of stone care. We describe how engineered nanoparticles (NPs) which can be either organic, inorganic, or hybrid take advantage of special properties of nanoscale to apply to a specific purpose. They are nano-enabled biosensors to detect early metabolic risks, advanced imaging and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy to characterize the composition of stones precisely and new therapeutic platforms such as photonic lithotripsy and nanofluid enhanced laser lithotripsy to fragment the stones efficiently and without direct contact. Additionally, we discuss nanotechnology to post-procedural issues such as the use of magnetically retrievable remnants and nano-formulations to prevent pharmacologically. These materials are synthesized and rationally designed based on the understanding of stone nanostructure and the principles of the so-called green chemistry. We then examine this strict preclinical assessment route, including in vitro efficacy measures and in vivo safety and biodistribution experiments, and finally catalogue the great challenges, including scalable manufacturing, sterilization, regulatory manoeuvres and clinical integration, which will have to be conquered to bring these promising proof-of-concept breakthroughs to mainstream urology practice. Finally, nanotechnology holds a paradigm shift of individualized, preventive, and minimally invasive care of urolithiasis.