To diagnose kidney stones, your doctor will ask you about your symptoms, examine you and may also ask about your medical history. Your doctor may do further tests to confirm the diagnosis and to show the size, location and type of your kidney stone. These include blood tests-to identify excess amounts of certain chemicals which cause kidney stones; urine analysis-to look for signs of infection; taking an X-ray-stones that contain calcium usually show up white on X-rays; intravenous urogram(IVU)-injection of a special dye that shows up the whole urinary system and any stones on X-rays; a CT scan-this uses X-rays to make a 3-dimensional image of the area; an ultrasound scan-this uses high frequency sound waves to produce an image of the internal organs.
Attribution: BUPA