OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to characterize artificial stones which are used for research in endourology from the perspective of radiological properties and hardness in terms of stone fragmentation, and to compare them to real stones from those assessments. MATERIALS AND METHODS We built artificial stones from BegoStone Plus powder (BEGO Lincoln, RI, USA) with powder(grams): water(ml) ratios from 15:03 to 15:12. The CT Gemstone Spectral Imaging Software (GE Medical Systems, LLC. Waukesha, WI, U.S.A) was used to evaluate the radiological density in Hounsfield Units (HU) and spectral properties. Stone fragmentation was assessed with an in vitro experimental setting. Artificial stones were compared to real urinary calculi from those perspectives. RESULTS Regarding radiological density in terms of HU, 15:03 artificial calculi showed similar results compared to real stones composed of Calcium Oxalate and Calcium Phosphate. Spectral properties wise, 15:03 and 15:04 artificial stones showed similar results than calcium pyrophosphate stones. Stone fragmentation wise, 15:11 artificial stones showed similar results than real stones composed of uric acid. 15:03 artificial calculi showed similar results than apatite and cystine stones. CONCLUSIONS Artificial stones are very useful for research in endourology. Stones with a gr of powder: ml water ratio of 15:03 proved to mimic hard real stones in terms of HU, atomic number and stone fragmentation in our study and could be used as artificial hard stones. 15:11 stones showed similar stone fragmentation than uric acid stones. Our study might suggest that standard Bego stones are a very useful material to investigate different areas in endourology but not radiological properties because radiological homogeneity is not ensured unless using more sophisticated mixing methods.

中文翻译：

---

用于腔内泌尿外科研究的 Bego 结石的放射密度、原子序数和结石碎片。与真正的尿路结石的比较。

目的 本研究的目的是从放射学特性和结石碎片硬度的角度来表征用于腔内泌尿外科研究的人造结石，并将这些评估结果与真实结石进行比较。材料和方法 我们用 BegoStone Plus 粉末（BEGO Lincoln，罗德岛州，美国）制造人造石，粉末（克）：水（毫升）比例为 15:03 至 15:12。CT 宝石光谱成像软件（GE Medical Systems, LLC. Waukesha, WI, USA）用于评估以 Hounsfield 单位 (HU) 表示的放射密度和光谱特性。通过体外实验设置评估结石破碎情况。从这些角度将人造结石与真正的泌尿系结石进行比较。结果 关于 HU 的放射密度，15:03 人造结石与由草酸钙和磷酸钙组成的真实结石相比显示出相似的结果。从光谱特性来看，15:03 和 15:04 人造宝石与焦磷酸钙宝石显示出相似的结果。从结石破碎角度来看，15:11 人造结石与由尿酸组成的真实结石显示出相似的结果。15:03 人工结石显示出与磷灰石和胱氨酸结石相似的结果。结论 人造石对于腔内泌尿外科研究非常有用。在我们的研究中，粉末：毫升水比例为 15:03 的石头被证明在 HU、原子序数和石头碎片方面模仿了坚硬的真实石头，并且可以用作人造硬石。15:11 结石表现出与尿酸结石类似的结石破碎情况。我们的研究可能表明，标准 Bego 结石是研究腔内泌尿学不同领域的非常有用的材料，但不是放射学特性，因为除非使用更复杂的混合方法，否则无法确保放射学均匀性。