Full research facilities are available at Duke University Medical Center, including basic science bench-space in the Duke Lithotripsy Laboratory in the Department of Engineering with a thulium fiber laser in the lab.
For animal studies, the Duke University Medical Center Vivarium has a full veterinary and technical support and is located immediately adjacent to the Medical Center and Department of Engineering.
Pei Zhong, PhD, acts as research mentor for performance of the basic physics studies and laser lithotripsy research. High-speed photographic analysis, acoustic emission equipment and a cavitation detection system are available to perform such physics studies. NIH funding is currently in place to cover the cost of performing many of these studies.
Health services research activities in endourology occur at the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) under the direction of Charles D. Scales, MD. The DCRI houses several large administrative datasets that provide insights into quality of care. NIH and other funding is currently in place to cover many of these studies.