Laboratory Products
Thermal Cameras Help to Reduce the Invasiveness of Cochlear Implant Surgery
Kristof Maddelein, FLIR Systems
Impaired hearing is something that we usually associate with elderly people. However, many newborns are also confronted with hearing problems or are born deaf. In many of these cases, a normal hearing aid does not help and hearing patients are obliged to resort to so-called cochlear implants in order to be able to lead a normal life. These implants must be inserted into the cochlea through elaborate and very invasive surgery. Thermal imaging cameras from FLIR Systems have helped to make this process less invasive and thus much safer for the patient.
Figure 1. The A655sc helps
researchers, and scientists see and accurately quantify thermal patterns in real time.
Cochlear implants are a wonderful achievement of modern medicine and have already helped many patients who are profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The implant is surgically placed under the skin behind the ear. However, this technique requires highly trained surgeons and is not without risks. A surgical implant procedure may result in injury to the facial nerve, meningitis, tinnitus, infections, cerebrospinal fl uid leakage and many other affl ictions.
Less Invasive Surgery
Researchers have been looking into making cochlear implant surgery less invasive. In a collaborative effort by the Swiss ARTORG Center of Biomedical Engineering Research and the Institute of Surgical Technologies and Biomechanics of the University of Bern as well as the University Hospital Inselspital of Bern,
researchers have been working on an image- guided surgical robot system, which is able to drill a small tunnel hole in the skull behind the ear through which the cochlear implant can be inserted.
Figure 3. During drilling of the bone samples, temperature elevation can be continuously monitored at any drilling depth and different drill bit designs and process parameters were investigated and subsequently optimised.
The new procedure is much less invasive than conventional techniques and allows for rapid recovery and minimum hospital stay time. The surgery is preceded by a CT scan of the head, a thorough computer-based planning of the drilling trajectory and a semi-automatic segmentation of important anatomical features. For the actual surgery, the acquired information then needs to be synchronised with the patient. The surgical robot requires a drilling depth of approximately 25 mm. Through innovative processes
Figure 2. Cochlear implants are surgically placed under the skin behind the ear and have already helped many patients who are profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.
Figure 4. Researchers from the University of Bern have been working on a surgical robot which is able to only drill a small hole in the skull behind the ear through which the cochlear implant can be inserted.
LAB ASIA - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
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