Air Force #1: Development and Initial Clinical Evaluation of an Easily Assembled, Cost-Effective Force Sensor for the Safe Passage of Ureteral Access "Presentation" - Bruce Gao
April 28, 2025
Bruce Gao introduces "Air Force 1," a device that applies Boyle's Law to monitor insertion forces during ureteral access sheath placement. This practical innovation has demonstrated clinical efficacy in a prospective 21-patient database with zero high-grade injuries reported.
Biography:
Bruce Gao, MD, FRCSC, Urologist, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
Bruce Gao, MD, FRCSC, Urologist, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA
Read the Full Video Transcript
Bruce Gao: Inserting a ureteral access sheath with too much force. Anything above 8 Newtons can cause a full-thickness tear of the ureter. Yet, until now, real-time force monitoring has been a challenge in the operating room. We present Air Force 1, a simple solution that uses an occluded 1 mL syringe and Boyle's Law to correlate force with compression of the syringe plunger.
It assembles in less than two minutes, costs less than $4, and is built entirely from supplies already in your operating room. Through benchtop testing, we first identified the Becton Dickinson Luer-Lok 1 mL syringe as the most accurate and reproducible for force measurement. We then developed a setup to apply our findings and monitor force during ureteroscopy and PCNL.
In a review of a prospective database involving 21 patients, Air Force 1 enabled safe ureteral access sheath insertion with zero high-grade ureteral injuries. If you're interested, you could build one today. You can scan the QR code to learn how to integrate this device into your operating room. Thank you for your time and attention.
Bruce Gao: Inserting a ureteral access sheath with too much force. Anything above 8 Newtons can cause a full-thickness tear of the ureter. Yet, until now, real-time force monitoring has been a challenge in the operating room. We present Air Force 1, a simple solution that uses an occluded 1 mL syringe and Boyle's Law to correlate force with compression of the syringe plunger.
It assembles in less than two minutes, costs less than $4, and is built entirely from supplies already in your operating room. Through benchtop testing, we first identified the Becton Dickinson Luer-Lok 1 mL syringe as the most accurate and reproducible for force measurement. We then developed a setup to apply our findings and monitor force during ureteroscopy and PCNL.
In a review of a prospective database involving 21 patients, Air Force 1 enabled safe ureteral access sheath insertion with zero high-grade ureteral injuries. If you're interested, you could build one today. You can scan the QR code to learn how to integrate this device into your operating room. Thank you for your time and attention.