The Department of Urology was founded in 1980 by former Vice President Dr. Li Dechao. “Stone Expulsion Therapy,” known locally as one of the “Three Treasures of Zen Medicine,” has become widely recognized by the public. Under the leadership of three successive discipline heads—Dr. Li Dechao, Dr. Zhan Hejuan, and Dr. Zheng Bin—the department has grown with the vision of building a harmonious and patient-centered healing environment and the mission of advancing minimally invasive technologies. Through dedicated training of young and mid-career specialists and by overcoming subspecialty barriers, the department has, over four decades, developed into a renowned specialty service focusing on urinary stone disease, urologic oncology, prostate disease, and andrology.
The department operates two inpatient wards with 71 beds. In 2024, annual outpatient visits approached 40,000, inpatient discharges nearly 5,000, and surgical volume exceeded 3,000 procedures. The team has an optimized talent structure, including 5 chief physicians, 3 associate chief physicians, 4 attending physicians, and 1 resident, among whom 1 holds a PhD and 7 hold Master’s degrees.
The department is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including the da Vinci Xi surgical robot, the Lumenis Soltive™ laser platform, a 60-W holmium laser system, two Olympus HD laparoscopic suites, and two prostate enucleation endoscope systems. Multiple provincial and municipal research projects are currently in progress; notably, research led by Dr. Zheng Bin on percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) received the First Prize of Science and Technology Progress in Chancheng District (2011) and the Second Prize of Science and Technology Progress in Foshan City (2014).
The department has organized numerous national, provincial, and municipal continuing medical education programs in recent years, promoting new technologies and strengthening academic collaboration. It has evolved into a leading center in Guangdong Province that integrates clinical care, teaching, and scientific research.
The department is a regional leader in treating urinary stone disease.
PCNL was introduced in 2003, with a cumulative procedural volume exceeding 3,000 cases, with particular expertise in non-hydronephrotic staghorn stones and complex renal calculi.
In 2015, the department pioneered the use of digital flexible ureteroscopy with holmium laser lithotripsy.
In 2022, it launched negative-pressure suction-assisted flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy, reaching a cumulative volume of over 5,000 cases.
Routine services include extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL), traditional Chinese medicine–assisted stone expulsion, and comprehensive stone composition analysis. The department has extensive experience in guiding patients in stone-recurrence prevention. Every patient with urinary stones receives individualized and effective treatment.
In June 2022, Professor Huang Jian, Chair of the Urology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and Director of Urology at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, joined Foshan Zen Hospital as a multi-site senior consultant. Prof. Huang specializes in comprehensive management of urologic tumors and is internationally recognized for radical cystectomy with orthotopic ileal neobladder reconstruction via laparoscopic and robotic approaches. His practice in Foshan has attracted many regional oncology patients (he consults every other Saturday afternoon).
The department now routinely performs complex robotic oncologic surgeries involving the adrenal gland, kidney, prostate, and bladder.
A formal MDT (multidisciplinary team) process ensures personalized treatment plans and whole-course disease management for every cancer patient.
The da Vinci robotic surgery team has completed over 200 high-level robotic procedures.
Dr. Zheng Bin’s team has mastered nerve-sparing, continence-preserving robotic radical cystectomy with orthotopic ileal neobladder, and their robotic single-position nephroureterectomy has become a signature technique, to be presented at the 2025 National Annual Meeting.
The team also excels in robotic radical prostatectomy, achieving excellent outcomes in immediate continence recovery and functional preservation.
Extensive experience has also been accumulated in robotic nephron-sparing surgery for renal tumors.
In 2015, the department was the first in Foshan to perform transurethral laser enucleation of the prostate, using a full-lobe enucleation technique that enables more complete adenoma removal, smoother urination, and reduced recurrence. The department is also developing rezum water-vapor thermal therapy to offer additional minimally invasive options for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
The Andrology Unit is highly specialized, staffed by 1 chief physician, 2 attending physicians, and a 6-bed inpatient area. It provides strong expertise in:
prostatitis,
male sexual dysfunction,
male infertility,
voiding dysfunction,
and proactive male health management.
Surgical procedures include vasovasostomy, microsurgical vasoepididymostomy, microsurgical varicocele ligation, varicocele–inferior epigastric vein bypass, and seminal vesiculoscopy. The clinic offers dedicated services such as electromagnetic therapy, electrophysiological therapy, thermotherapy, and urodynamic testing.
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