  Plasma accreted onto the surface of a neutron star can ignite due to unstable
thermonuclear burning and produce a bright flash of X-ray emission called a
Type-I X-ray burst. Such events are very common; thousands have been observed
to date from over a hundred accreting neutron stars. The intense, often
Eddington-limited, radiation generated in these thermonuclear explosions can
have a discernible effect on the surrounding accretion flow that consists of an
accretion disk and a hot electron corona. Type-I X-ray bursts can therefore
serve as direct, repeating probes of the internal dynamics of the accretion
process. In this work we review and interpret the observational evidence for
the impact that Type-I X-ray bursts have on accretion disks and coronae. We
also provide an outlook of how to make further progress in this research field
with prospective experiments and analysis techniques, and by exploiting the
technical capabilities of the new and concept X-ray missions ASTROSAT, NICER,
HXMT, eXTP, and STROBE-X.
