Innovations in Safe and Minimally Invasive Kidney Stone Treatment
Healthcare
Background
Future Of Health is a dynamic collective of senior leaders from top health organizations worldwide. Harnessing the shared vision and collective expertise of its members, FOH aims to influence, transform, and shape the future of health.
Challenge
Kidney stones affect millions of people worldwide and are a common cause of severe pain, emergency visits, repeat procedures, and reduced quality of life. Current treatment options, including watchful waiting, medication, lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, and surgical intervention, can be painful, invasive, costly, or inconsistently effective depending on stone size, location, and patient condition. This challenge seeks innovative solutions that enable the safe, efficient, and minimally painful removal or passage of kidney stones while reducing complications, recovery time, and recurrence risk. We are looking for ideas, technologies, devices, clinical approaches, or care models that can improve the patient experience and treatment outcomes across diverse healthcare settings. Relevant audiences include clinicians, medical device innovators, researchers, digital health teams, and multidisciplinary healthcare leaders. The opportunity is significant because a better approach could decrease suffering, lower healthcare utilization, and improve access to effective treatment for a highly prevalent condition that places a substantial burden on patients and health systems alike.
Required Expertise
Urology, Nephrology, Biomedical engineering, Medical device development, Biology, Biotechnology, Clinical research and trials, Digital health and care pathway design
Challenge Objectives
Success will mean that people with kidney stones receive timely, safe, and substantially less disruptive care that resolves episodes faster, reduces pain burden, and lowers the likelihood of complications, repeat procedures, and future recurrence. In the ideal end state, treatment pathways are embedded into routine clinical workflows across emergency, outpatient, surgical, and follow-up settings, enabling coordinated decision-making, smoother referrals, and more consistent care regardless of geography or care setting. Clinicians and care teams can act earlier and with greater confidence, patients recover more quickly and return sooner to normal activity, and health systems see fewer avoidable admissions, reduced procedure intensity, shorter recovery periods, and lower total cost of care. Success will be reflected in measurable improvements in patient-reported experience, stone clearance and symptom resolution rates, reduced adverse events, fewer emergency revisits, and stronger adherence to prevention and follow-up plans. Value is created for patients, care teams, providers, and the broader health system through better outcomes, greater efficiency, and a new standard of kidney stone care that is more humane, accessible, and scalable.
Incentives
Future Of Health is prepared to award a funded opportunity for the most compelling solution, with an anticipated range of USD 25,000-100,000 depending on maturity, evidence, and implementation potential. Top submissions may also be considered for pilot support, expert mentorship, strategic introductions, and partnership discussions with health system leaders. Rewards will favor solutions that demonstrate clinical feasibility, patient benefit, scalability, and a realistic path to deployment within 12 months.
